GREENFIELD — Gill-based bus company F.M. Kuzmeskus Inc. transports about 3,800 school children a day, many of whom belong to families that receive services from the state’s Department of Children and Families.
So when bus driver Maribeth Oakes, known to many as “Sam,” heard on the radio that World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield was seeking book donations for holiday baskets that will be given to those families, she felt inspired to help.
“It just really kind of touched something in me and I thought, ‘I love this idea, and I want to be a part of it,’” she said.
Oakes spoke with her boss at Kuzmeskus — Pam Reipold — who also thought it was a great idea. The company recently made a large donation to the drive — enough to purchase at least 35 new books, according to World Eye owner Jessica Mullins — and also put a donation box in the company’s break room for books and cash.
“Each year we try to come together as a group to do something like this,” Reipold wrote in an email. “It’s a nice way to help out others in the community and it’s also a really nice way to come together as a ‘work family.’ We really are a community-based business. We all live in the communities we serve. Our kids go to the schools we serve. It’s important for us to give back when we can.”
She added since Kuzmeskus transports the majority of the county’s children, the company is contributing to the families it serves every day.
“I think back to the days when my own children were younger and reading to them was a very special time for us each day. If we can contribute to that for other families — it makes it all the sweeter,” she wrote.
Until Dec. 4, those wishing to contribute to the drive can stop by World Eye and pick out a child-shaped cutout of a boy or a girl of different ages, and then buy a book appropriate for that age group. The books will be placed in holiday baskets for families receiving DCF services in Greenfield, and donors will receive 10 percent off their purchase.
Mullins said people may also come in and buy any book they want, and it will be put in the appropriate basket, or people may donate cash or checks in two jars on the store’s front counter. Some of the money will be used after Dec. 4 to purchase books that are still needed.
“Right now, we have hundreds of kids, and then closer to the day DCF is going to say, ‘We need five more of this age or three more of this,’” Mullins said.
World Eye’s ongoing project began around the holidays three years ago with Vermont’s Department of Children and Families, and expanded to the DCF office in Greenfield six months ago. During the first year, books were given to children during the Brattleboro office’s holiday party. After the holidays were over, Mullins pitched the idea of putting a bookcase in the office, where kids could come pick out their own books to keep.
“Kids just don’t have books and they don’t have access to them as much, and a lot of the kids come in and they’re kind of ripped out of their homes and they don’t get to bring their personal belongings with them usually,” she said.
The idea went over so well that the office soon added a second bookcase.
The project expanded to Greenfield when a longtime World Eye customer became a social worker in town and coordinated the program here.
“We actually have it as an ongoing thing. It’s just that right now the books will get donated toward the holiday baskets in Greenfield,” Mullins said.
She added that right now, it’s especially important for the community to come together.
“I think people need that — to have a strong sense of community and a strong sense that Greenfield and Franklin County are still strong and support each other,” she said, adding, “It’s such an important cycle and community connection — these are the kids that we take care of, and to see them reading would be awesome.”
You can reach Aviva Luttrell at: aluttrell@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 268
On Twitter: @AvivaLuttrell