It’s a time to be thankful for so many things here at Making Spirits Bright. Thanks to our amazing community, we have surpassed 100,000 books donated this year and we still have time to get more books into hands and homes before the end of 2024.
BOOK DRIVES
Each month we have scheduled book drives. We no longer are seeking out partners for these events but have created a buzz in the community and groups are coming to us! We are so thankful!
Over the last few months, we have received books from two JBF donation sites (Just Between Friends). One in Livonia and the other in Macomb Township. Two local church, Orchard Grove and Faith Community hosted a book drive between their members. Kyndryl, which is an American information technology infrastructure services provider, was in town for an automotive trade show at MGM Grand. They donated 100 board books for children, each with a STEM focus (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
There are certain times of the year where we run low on a specific type of book. One of our VIP volunteers, Heather, put a call out to her group of friends to collect books for us! Thank you Heather for always going above and beyond to help!
We are always in need of graphic novels! They are the most sought after at our Free Book Fairs, and we have a hard time keeping up with the demand. With that being said, if you have any, send them our way.
LIBRARY PARTNERS
Libraries often have used book sales. The Walled Lake Friends of the Library donated the children’s titles they had left after their sale! We appreciate it so much!
SCHOOL DISTRIBUTION
We have been busy visiting schools with our Free Book Fair program. The following schools welcomed us with kindness as we helped students select five books to take home. Daly Elementary (Inkster), Thorne Elementary (Dearborn Heights), Vandenberg Elementary (South Redford) Mann Elementary (Detroit), Palmer Park Academy (Detroit), and Barber Prep Elementary (Highland Park). Every child self selects 5 books and a free book tote bag.
COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTION
We are continuing to bring our Family Literacy Night program to Brilliant Detroit hubs. Recently, we were at the Southwest and Martin Park locations. Martin Park was the busiest we’ve ever been with over 35 families in attendance!
Making Spirits Bright is excited about our new community partner. Detroit Parent Network is dedicated to engaging, equipping and empowering parents as champions for children and change. We had our first delivery of 389 books to them for their Powerful Parents Holiday Breakfast.
Maria is part of a the MASP (Michigan After School Program) committee. She met someone from MiSide Detroit at their Fall Retreat in Lansing. We are now testing out our Family Literacy Nights at Daycare Centers.
VOLUNTEERS
Did you know we have student AND adult volunteers? If you are interested in volunteering, we will provide direct links to you here!
Kudos to a few really big teams that spent time with us at our Farmington Hills location to sort and count books! BCBS of Michigan and Ford!
We have a new VIP volunteer, Michelle Verkerke, who will be our Macomb County ambassador. She will be helping us connect with schools to distribute to and organizations hosting book drives in Macomb County. She will also coordinate all of the book collection in Macomb County. And if this wasn’t enough, Michelle will also be contributing to fundraising by facilitating monthly Dine to Donate events at restaurants in Metro Detroit.
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FUNDRAISING
We have monthly fundraisers happening so that we can continue to buy used graphic novels for our school distribution collections. This genre of books get the kids so pumped to READ that we need to make sure there’s enough for every child to take one home.
Please give a BIG round of applause to …
Casey’s of Walled Lake for hosting a Dine to Donate where customers raised $369 for MSB! Biggby Coffee in Commerce also supported us with a day of fundraising and we received $256 from their team. Last, but certainly not least, our Kroger Rewards program is growing and we received $49.98 from Q3.
RECYCLYING
We don’t buy new books. We believe there are enough used books to keep cycling into our community. Sustainability is important to us. There are certain books we come across that should no longer be in existence. These types of books have outdated content, politically incorrect terminology, are damaged with water (which can cause mold issues) and more! It took us quite sometime to come up with a process we felt good about. At first, we were donating these books to Salvation Army but that felt wrong. We are now partnering with GFL and Georgia Pacific that repurposes these books into paper towel for hospitals and schools!
EVENTS
We are truly BETTER TOGETHER! Networking has been a key factor in strengthening our foundation here at MSB. Read on to see where we visited to connect with other organizations!
MSB was a vendor at the Michigan Association for School Librarians. This was a well attended conference and because of this event, we were asked to present at the following meetings: Spoke about Family Literacy Nights to Day Care Owners at Miside Detroit, Presented about Programming at Wayne Metro, delivered a program about our work to the Delta Kappa Gamma chapter in Plymouth, MI Chapter and presented to the IT Team at Carhartt.
Maria was in Albany for work and visited The Red Bookshelf. She learned something new, their book bank has mending kits for volunteers to fix broken books!
We are also part of the Diverse Books for All Coalition and met with other individuals across the nation who are dedicated to providing windows and mirrors to children in quality books!
After a year long of connecting with others to help us grow the Metro Detroit Book Bank, we hosted our first Open House to thank our volunteers and give them the opportunity to SEE exactly what it is we offer in our programs! We invited every donor, sponsor and volunteer to come into our headquarters and EXPERIENCE what we do for the children and families in Detroit and the Metro! They traveled through our MSB Path of Impact, stopping at stations and learning the steps a book goes though, from donation, to sorting, recycling, and all the ways we distribute books.
P.S. We are a 501(c)3 and accept monetary donations from individuals and organizations. Please consider donating here.
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