Locals donate hundreds of books to Rowan House

A recent book drive brought in hundreds of books for the Rowan House Society.

The book drive was organized by local RE/MAX realtors Krista Brown and Heather Moores.

They wanted to run a collection drive for a local non-profit, and the idea of a book drive came to mind when looking at how many food and toy drives were already planned in the community.

The two approached Yooneek Books on McRae Street with the idea, and they were very receptive to being the donation drop-off point, with the drive launching at Light Up Okotoks and continuing for the following week.

Heather says the community didn't disappoint.

"The community support was unbelievable. We're so thankful to Yooneek Books for letting us come in and not only host it for the night of Light Up, but to have to go for the whole week."

All-in-all, 440 books were donated.

Photo courtesy of the Rowan House Society.

Heather says each book will stay with families who use Rowan House's services.

"They were so excited and so thankful. Those books are going to go a long way because not only do they give them to the families as they leave the shelter, but they also give them to kids on their birthdays and things like that," explains Heather.

Krista extended a thanks to everyone who took part.

"We really want to say thank you to the Foothills community for supporting us, Yooneek Books, and Rowan House, of course."

They're already considering future events in town, and Heather says they'd be happy to organize another book drive if more are needed in a year's time.

"Definitely something similar, something community-based. Rowan House is going to let us know how far those books go, and if they're in need of it again, I think doing the same event again would be excellent."

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, HighRiverOnline and OkotoksOnline encourage you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the HighRiverOnline or OkotoksOnline app.