In our small towns, the impact of a single ask can ripple through schools, neighborhoods, and local organizations until it becomes a wave of generosity. This past month, that wave was felt across the Tri-Community as The Heritage School’s Builders Club joined forces with the Tri-Community Kiwanis Club to tackle two distinct needs: summer literacy for local students and essential supplies for mothers in crisis.
What started as two separate drives occurring at the same time, the Summer Reading Book Drive and a collection for the Rose of Sharon Pregnancy Resource Center, quickly transformed into a three-week testament to the culture of service that defines our local youth.
Michelle Steinmann of the Kiwanis Club reached out to Todd Anton, History teacher and leader of The Heritage School’s Builders Club, to see if they would be willing to participate in the Summer Reading Book Drive. The goal was to collect books for Snowline Elementary students to take home before the school year ends to encourage reading and promote literacy.
“All you have to do is ask, and Builders Club and Heritage School always step up,” Anton said. “Students even donated their childhood books for younger kids to read during the summer.”
Steinmann, who oversees the Kiwanis Summer Reading Book Drive, noted that roughly 900 books were collected. These books will be distributed at a special event held at one of the elementary schools right before summer break, where students will get the chance to browse tables and pick a book that interests them to keep.
“Kiwanis’s hope is that by providing a book to read, students will be encouraged to read it over the summer,” Steinmann explained, noting that having a book to keep can change a child’s relationship with reading. “I know some students like collecting series of books, like Harry Potter… the elementary students love all books.”
During the holiday season, the Builders Club does an annual drive for Rose of Sharon, which cares for mothers and newborns in need. But a chance encounter outside a local Walmart between Anton and a young mother in need sparked an idea. Anton recalls, “That got me thinking that Rose of Sharon’s needs are all year long, not just at Christmas.” He put out a call for diapers and baby wipes, and the Heritage students responded immediately. “Every day, somebody was bringing something in,” Anton continued, “I get to school early, and there are always students on my classroom ramp with books, diapers, and smiles waiting for me. After school, students were running up to give me stuff, worried they were too late.” Within the first few days, Anton’s classroom was already starting to fill up with boxes and bags of diaper and wipe donations!
For Anton, who is set to retire from teaching this June after 35 years, instilling the passion of community service in our youth with projects like these represents the strong finish he envisioned for his career. Though he is stepping away from the classroom, Anton isn’t leaving the community or its youth behind. “This community may be small, but it has the biggest heart of anyone I know,” Anton expressed, “ I will retire from teaching, but I will remain the leader of Heritage School’s Kiwanis Builders Club and continue to partner with our youth and community in shared citizenship for our great nation. Sorry, you are not getting rid of me that easily!”
For those who wish to learn more about the Rose of Sharon Pregnancy Resource Center and donate to the cause, please visit: https://friends.roseofsharonprc.org/donate.
