Charlestown Book Collection Donates More Than 15,000 Books to Books for International Goodwill

Charlestown residents, staff and future residents this week donated more than 15,000 books to Books for  International Goodwill. The project, which was held under the auspices of the Charlestown Rotary Fellowship, also resulted in $205 in monetary donations.

A 16-foot U-Haul truck filled with thousands of pounds of books left the
Charlestown campus in Catonsville. All genres of books -- including  biography,
poetry, fiction, and nonfiction -- were donated. A committee of 15 Charlestown
volunteers coordinated the collection, promoting it internally in advance via
social media, closed circuit television, newsletters, and posters.

"If you wonder what this can do to assist in changing lives around the world
read the book 'The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,'" said Pat Kasuda, chair of the
book collection committee. "This young man received a physics book from Books for  International Goodwill. He used this educational material to construct a
windmill from bicycle parts. This windmill produced sufficient electricity to
give light to two rooms in his South African home."

This book collection, according to Kasuda, proves Charlestown residents and staff share their gifts to not only create a community to celebrate life in Catonsville, but also around the world.

The Charlestown Rotary Fellowship will hold another book collection in September.