Our Community Delivered!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and what an amazing month we’ve had at Making Spirits Bright.   

BOOK DRIVES 

We were so fortunate to have so many amazing partners in our community who hosted book drives.  Bigbby Coffee, Novi Dental, Dance Dynamics, American Allstars Gymnastics and Novi Nutrition all prominently displayed our collection boxes and brought hundreds of books in.  

The National Honor Society students from Walled Lake Western High School exceeded everyone’s expectations and collected over 8000 books!  Anna Oginsky and her team at Brighton Light House blew us away with over 6000 books collected!

Today, with the help of volunteers from the Boldt Company, we moved over 15,000 books to our warehouse.  The Boldt Company lent us Matt, Phil and Mike, two trucks and a giant enclosed trailer to transport and unload the books.  And as a bonus Matt brought his three children, who were so steadfast in their efforts to help. It was an exciting time, we used the loading dock and the conveyer belt that carried all of our books up to our space on the second floor.  

FUNDRAISING 

From Beans & Books to Books & Brews, our fundraising efforts are moving along. We had 4 successful pop-up book sales.  Biggby Coffee, The Greenhouse, Draught Horse, and Rivers Edge Brewery were all so kind to share their spaces with us. These pop ups allow us to sell some of the used books we collect to raise funds for our programming events.

BOOK DISTRIBUTION

Our book distribution continues with the 16 Brilliant Detroit community centers, All Things Women and Hospitality House.  Through these partnerships we continue to put hundreds of books directly into the hands of children and their families.

VOLUNTEERS

In the spirit of giving, Junior National Honor Society students from Geisler Middle School in Walled Lake, spent an afternoon volunteering with Making Spirits Bright. They gift wrapped hundreds of books that were then gifted directly to children in Detroit. The Youth Advisory Group at Words of Hope 4 Life also helped us with our book wrapping efforts. We are so lucky to have so many helping hands.

DISTRIBUTION TO SCHOOLS

Teachers and media specialists continue to stop by and collect books for their classrooms and school libraries. Frequently those working in schools spend their own money stocking their classroom libraries and we are  happy to alleviate this expense for them. They can shop right at our Making Spirits Bright warehouse space (follow us on social media to find out when these Teacher Shop events are happening) or at the Making Spirits Bright free book store, which is located inside of Words of Hope 4 Life’s space The RAIL (open every Saturday from 1-2PM at 2071 E West Maple Rd Suite E503, Commerce Charter Twp, MI 48390). We are excited to see books heading straight into the hands of students. 

So many exciting things are in the works for the new year!   In January, we are partnering with Pontiac schools and piloting Making Spirits Bright Free Book Fairs. Having been the Scholastic book fair chairperson at my children’s school for several years, I have always wished that every child could leave with books. Our free book fairs will give every child the opportunity to have the same book fair experience.

I’m astonished by our growth and how much we’ve accomplished in the few short months we’ve been in operation. We are bursting at the seams and searching for a larger warehouse. I’m hoping we can continue to exceed our expectations in the new year!

Tracy, Operations Manager

PS We are a 501(c)3 and accept monetary donations from individuals and organizations. Please consider donating here.