A book to call their own

When a child is removed from his home, sometimes all that goes with him is his clothes. The Cape Girardeau Court Appointed Special Advocates hope to give those children something to call their own: books.

The Cape Girardeau branch of Barnes & Noble began a book drive Thursday and will continue to ask customers to purchase a book to donate to CASA through Dec. 21. They will also donate 20 percent of every sale Nov. 16 and 17, if the customer agrees.

"We've been delightfully surprised by our customers and their giving," said Jill LeGrand, community relations manager of Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

The book drive has unofficially been up and running since Oct. 28, and 300 books already have been collected. The store's goal is 2,000 books by Christmas.

LeGrand is optimistic.

A sign encourages customers to participate in the Holiday Book Drive at Barnes & Noble.

"I feel very positive about hitting that goal. It's only November," she said.

They are hoping company sponsors donate larger sums so they can buy several books on one bill. The store did a smaller drive last year to benefit the Boys and Girls Club, but the 2,000 books for CASA is a bigger goal for 2007.

"There's something about adoption and foster children that really a lot of people are sensitive to," LeGrand said. "And those are children in desperate need of a healthy home. They need to know that there are good things out there."

"A book is one of the best gifts that you can give because it's something they can call their own," she said.

CASA employs four part-time workers and has 42 active volunteers. The volunteers are assigned a child and act as a mediator and advocate for that child during the foster and adoption process. The volunteer relays to the court a recommendation in the best interest of the child.

When a CASA volunteer is assigned to a case, he goes to the CASA office and fills up a goody bag. In order to know more about the child and what he or she needs, the workers have to build a relationship. They use the gift bags as a segue, said CASA executive director Revonda Kirby.

"If it's a young child, what better way than to sit down and read a book to them?" she said. Almost half the children CASA helped last year were younger than 5 years old.

A book can also give them another avenue to improve their reading skills, which some have fallen behind in, she said.

CASA is funded through a small government grant and some support from the United Way, but 54 percent of their funding last year came from private donations like the ones they will receive from the book drive.

"It was a little bit of a surprise," Kirby said. She just learned about the charity book drive last week.

CASA has been in Cape Girardeau since 1991, but Kirby said the not-for-profit has a hard time recruiting volunteers.

"I guess we're not a real visible organization," she said. "Sometimes the community likes to have something that's tangible. We wouldn't want to put the kiddos out like that."

Staff and volunteers from CASA will be at the Barnes & Noble on Nov. 17 for story times and games. A Puppet Power puppet show from Charlotte Reed will be held from 3 to 5 p.m.

"It'll be fun," LeGrand said. "It'll be something that parents can bring their children to."

TLeGrand said the company decided against accepting donations of used books.

"We feel like the children deserve a brand-new book," she said.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 246

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