Those who helped worthy cause are offered gratitude

On June 8 and 9, the students of White Oak Elementary [Westlake Village] were invited to participate in a collection drive for an organization called "Books for the Barrios," a nonprofit, all volunteer organization that delivers mass quantities of quality educational materials, procured from donor individuals and the discards of U.S. public school districts to the most remote disadvantaged schools in developing countries.

Students were asked to bring in donations of storybooks, magazines, useable remains of art supplies, and old toys. In addition, teachers were asked to donate used crayons, pencils, markers, paper, and other supplies that would have otherwise been thrown away at the end of the school year.

We are proud to announce that we collected over 100 boxes of donations in just one week.

On behalf of Nancy and Dan Harrington, founders of "Books for the Barrios," I would like to say thank you to all of the students who participated, the teachers who gave so generously, and to our principal, Fran Madison-Cohee, for supporting the project.

I would like to extend a special and most grateful thanks to Joyce O’ Hallaron, Marcia Bhattacharya, and the local grocery stores for providing over 50 apple boxes for packing the books; to the Girl Scouts for collecting the school donations and loading over five vans; and especially to the 50 parents and students who came to my house the morning of June 16 to sort and pack all the donations.

The donations will be shipped up to the "Books for Barrios" warehouse in Concord, Calif., this week, courtesy of Sunny Express, a carrier based out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thank you once again for a successful event.

White Oak Elementary is proud of its participation in community service projects and truly appreciates our wonderful volunteers.

Joan McMahon

PFC Treasurer,

White Oak Elementary

Westlake Village