NAHANT — The Nahant Village Church is collaborating with Grace United Methodist Church in Lynn for a book drive. The goal is to collect them for kids and families during the holiday season, and it will benefit the Head Start program at LEO Inc.
Head Start is the leading preschool program that prepares low-income children aged 3-5 for kindergarten. Head Start also works in tandem to encompass a family’s needs from pregnancy to age 3, according to its website. LEO serves approximately 450 families across Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Swampscott, Saugus, Nahant, and Wakefield.
The book drive runs until Dec. 7, at which point the two churches will deliver the collected books to LEO on Union Street. Nahant Village Church has already collected three boxes filled with donations.
“We had connected with (the Lynn church) last year for a sock drive that was wildly successful. We were trying to think of what to do for a Christmas-time project, and I connected with the church to ask if they wanted to team up on something again,” Chris Stevens, Nahant Village Church office manager, said.
She continued, saying that Grace United Methodist Church came up with the idea for the book drive, and Stevens was eager to join the endeavor.
“People do a lot of mitten drives and things like that. We thought, ‘Why don’t we do something different?” Stevens said. She noted that Grace United Methodist Church is also collecting donations at 374 Broadway.
As donations continue to trickle in, Stevens said that the age-group they’re aiming for is 6 and under. She also noted that one anonymous donor dropped off two full boxes of books to help out.
“Books are a big deal, but they’re also an extravagance if you’re a struggling family. I think it’s really important, and sometimes, books aren’t something someone might have around the house… If you can read, you can do anything,” Stevens said.
She encouraged community members to help contribute to the book drive.
“It’s an easy thing to do when you’re shopping online; you can just throw a book in your shopping cart and drop it off here or at Grace United Methodist Church… It’s just a nice thing to do,” she said.
Grace United Methodist Church could not be reached for comment.
