Friday April 7th was quite a busy day for the ELCO family. The day began just like any other, the phones began ringing promptly at 8:00 AM and didn’t stop until closing time. After our shifts, seven of us quickly made our way over to volunteer at our neighbors, Bernie’s Book Bank. We all signed in and were later grouped with the packers, and no not the football players. As packers, we were tasked with organizing and stuffing bags with an assortment of books. Our team’s main task was simple. Create a diverse package of books for kids who can’t afford to buy them.
We began our day packing for 6th graders, which humbled and awed us, with the sheer size of some of the books these children were reading. Challenged at the beginning of our time, we needed to identify who was doing what and why we kept having bags rip. This is when I learned that my strength was in selecting the books instead of packing them. Apparently fitting books into a bag is much more difficult than it looks. It only took a few minutes for us to begin delegating tasks and after filling a few bags we were running like a well-oiled machine. Many of the books were different, which provided a challenge for the organizers, but once we hit our stride we were quickly filling containers.
Toward the end of our time slot, we were called over to the 5th grade area to close out our day. At this point, our coordinator called us over and began reading a thank you note from one of the many children who received a package of books in the past. She then began thanking all of us for our time, however, it was us who ended up thanking them for all of their work.
Was this the end of the day for our group? Absolutely not. Like I said, the seventh was an incredibly busy day for the members of ELCO. After a nice hour long break, many of us went up to Milwaukee, WI for the Cubs and Brewers game. If you want to read more about ELCO’s trip to Milwaukee, feel free to click here.
Charities, such as Bernie’s Book Bank, will always hold a special place in the hearts of the ELCO family. We will continue the tradition of being active in our community as we see it as a privilege and a responsibility. If you’re interested in donating or volunteering at Bernie’s Book Bank click here to visit their website.