Altrusa International Foundation, Inc.

The Altrusa International Foundation, Inc’s newsletter, supporting Altrusans in service and leadership to their communities

Each month, the Foundation highlights the great work of Altrusa Clubs through the Grants Program.  The spotlight this month is on “Hear A Book-Take A Book”, a service project completed by Altrusa International Club of Greater Kansas City, Missouri.

“One of the most important phrases in the English language is “Read to me”  shared Barbara Britt, a member of the Greater Kansas City Club who has a passion for sharing the love of reading.

The “Hear a Book – Take a Book” project was designed to place new books in the hands of children as young as pre-school. The club found locations which allowed sufficient space to display the new books, provide an area for kids to have hands-on activities, such as connect-the-dots, color pictures and works search sheets. The area provided an opportunity for Altrusans  to read to the children or for a child to read aloud to a club member. Each child participating in the event received a brand new book to take home.

Barbara Britt added, “I have a passion for sharing the love of reading. In the early days of the Hear a Book – Take a Bok project, it was very exciting to read the books to the children but it was even more thrilling when a child wanted to read to an Altrusan.” The first event was in September 2019 and the children were thrilled to select a new book to take home and keep. Ninety-eight families participated and 215 pre-school age through you adult books were given away. The popular choices for the young men were books about trains, sharks, dinosaurs, Flat Stanley series, ghost stories and Captain Underpants.  Books about animals, classic novelists (written by Poe & Dickens), Junie B. Jones series and chapter books telling hear warming stories were the favorites of the young ladies. Many adults reminisced about their favorite books as a child and one grandfather was thrilled to receive a book written in Spanish for his third granddaughter.

“This is truly sharing the love of reading!” explained Altrusan Vickie Kilgore.  The second event was held in January 2002. The weather did not cooperate and only nine families attended the event resulting in the distribution of 36 new books. COVID-19 followed and the whole community was locked down. The club put their heads together and decided to move their project to the Elementary Schools giving away lunches. The parents drove their cars through to pick up food and received books for their children.  The club continued to modify this project by joining Catholic Charities as they held weekly food giveaways in Wyandotte County, KS. As the pandemic continues to change the way the world turns, the Altrusans are committed to change the way books are distributed to children. To date, the club has put 1,638 books into the hands of children.

The $4,000 grant received from the Altrusa International Foundation, Inc. helped to purchase a variety of books that the club gave away. With the advent of the coronavirus, the one-on-one and small group reading opportunities were removed.

“The creation of our Pop Up Take a Book events reveals our love of reading and desire to continue to get books into the hands of little ones.” Vickie explained. “This truly is a project that leads to a better community.”  One parent expressed excitement that their loved ones could pick an easy-to-read Spanish book to increase their language skills. “Many people loved this project but had never heard of Altrusa. Our Club had a wonderful opportunity to share our story.”

Grants of $250 to $4000 are available through sponsoring Altrusa Clubs from the Altrusa International Foundation to improve the economic well-being and quality of life through the Foundation’s commitment to community service and literacy. Established as a charitable corporation in 1962, the Altrusa International Foundation is committed to the service of goals and objectives of Altrusa International, Inc. Its sole purpose is to be an avenue through which Altrusans can assist Altrusa Clubs and other worthy organizations throughout the world, to carry out their programs of community service and assistance to those in need.

Leslie Johnson, Board of Trustees

Vickie Kilgore, Altrusa International Club of Greater Kansas City, Missouri

Altrusans can find more information about Foundation Programs including the Lamplighter and Lucente Lamplighter, Club 21, Disaster Relief, Endowment Fund, Planned Giving, Foundation Grants and the Community Leadership Award, by logging in to the Altrusa Foundation website.