karen and aniyahlis luna

Local NonProfits Bring Books to Four Lowell Family Shelters

 Local nonprofits bring books to Lowell family shelters

Greater Lowell Community Foundation funds placing more than 500 books in four shelters

Ribbon cutting for bookcase full of books for kids at Milly’s Place, a partnership between Greater Lowell Community Foundation, On the Move, Inc., and CTI’s YouthBuild. CTI CEO Karen Frederick chats with resident Aniyahlis Luna, 9, who thought Frederick looked like a teacher. (SUN/Julia Malakie)

By NICOLE DEFEUDIS | ndefeudis@lowellsun.com | Lowell Sun

PUBLISHED: August 14, 2019 at 11:00 am | UPDATED: August 14, 2019 at 11:08 am

LOWELL — This month, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and local nonprofits placed more than 500 books at four Lowell family shelters.

“By working collaboratively with our community partners, we were able to put books into the hands of children who are at-risk of being left behind,” said Greater Lowell Community Foundation President and CEO Jay Linnehan in a news release.

The reading resources, which opened Aug. 4, are stocked with books from the Lowell Public Schools summer reading recommendation list. Methuen-based nonprofit On the Move Inc. supplied the books with funding from the GLCF. CTI YouthBuild, of Lowell, contributed the bookcases, and Community Teamwork, also of Lowell, provided resource site selection and management, according to the news release.

“Education is the great equalizer and providing books to children in Lowell family shelters opens the doors of opportunity,” Linnehan said in the release.

Children can keep the books they select, and more will be supplied as necessary. The resources are expected to serve 150 kids per year, according to GLCF Vice President of Marketing and Programs Jennifer Aradhya.

“We are grateful for the kindness of GLCF, On the Move, Inc. and our own YouthBuild students, for making these books available to the children in our shelters. It will keep their reading skills sharp and open new worlds to them,” CTI CEO Karen Frederick said in the news release.