Dandelion Moms Project Kindness for March

Dandelion Moms Project Kindness for March:

The dandelion moms project kindness was created to help spread acts of kindness and loveliness around the world.  Each month we post some suggestions that range from simple acts such as purchasing the person behind you at the coffee shop a cup of coffee to baking cookies for the folks at your local retirement home.  This month we are going to try something new.  Below you will find some suggestions as well as some information about a project that is helping to promote literacy by establishing a much-needed library for the town of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.  March is National Reading Month and what better way to celebrate the joy of reading than by helping out a small town build a library and fill it with books!  You can read more about the project below. My friend, Christopher Lay, an ex-patriate who lives in Beijing, China writes more about the project, how and why it was established and how one can help! 

 Beijing Kids Blog Post
28 February 2013
by Christopher Lay

Help Build a Library and Bring Literacy to Children

In many parts of the world, March is a month that honors the power of words, books, and literacy. In the USA it is National Reading Month and here in Beijing we are blessed with two literary festivals at the Bookworm bookstore and Capital M restaurant. It is a rare chance to hear from the authors we love, gain insights into the creative process and, well, stock up on more books for our children and ourselves.

Unfortunately, for much of the world’s children, access to books is not easy to come by due to the absence of libraries. This is precisely the situation two young educators from the USA, Rebecca and Josh Rousculp (good friends of the author) discovered when they moved their young family of four to the town of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. Instead of lamenting about the problem, they decided to work with their community to build a library that addresses the needs of the citizens. They have the staff, the volunteers, community support, and the know-how to make the library a reality. What they need are the funds to make the dream come true.

With a goal of just $19,000, the San Francisco de Macoris community will be able find a space, hire a local library coordinator, purchase table and chairs, and acquire more books and materials to stock the shelves. To reach it, the community has turned to the internet to crowd-source the funds and you are invited to get involved. They have already reached 30% of the goal and are trying to close the gap in the next three weeks. Donations of as little as 1 dollar are being accepted and there are “perks” for donations at any level: USA10 will land you an electronic copy of I am an Illegal Immigrant” written by Rebecca Rousculp, USA50 lets you adopt-a-reader, USA150 will land you some Santo Domingo coffee, just to name a few. These and more also can land your name on the library mural of hippest people on the planet.

How You Can Help:

To find out more on how to get involved (there is even a way to donate books via a USA address), visit their site on the Indiegogo.com: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/adopt-a-reader-a-teacher-a-library?c=home website here. Knowing that just 10 dollars can officially make you one of the hippest people on the planet is reward itself, but helping kids learn to read is priceless.

Thanks Christopher!  What a great chance to help and adopt a book, teacher or library! 

Some suggestions to help this project include:

Donate anything from $1 on up – every dollar counts! Make sure to let them know you are from the dandelion moms project kindness – let’s see how much we can raise for the library as a group!  Go here to learn more: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/adopt-a-reader-a-teacher-a-library/contributions/new

Gather new or gently used books and send to the address they list.  This could be a great activity with the kids to have them go through their library and donate books they are too old for and want to donate to this new library. The books to be used in the new library in the town of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominician Republic.  Here is what co-founder Rebecca has to say about where to send the books:

Other suggestions for March:

Write a nice note to a friend or family member and tell them how much they mean to you.

Donate some canned goods for your local food-bank.

Bring some treats to your local fire station.

Make sure to post on our Facebook page and let us know about how far the dandelion moms project kindness is reaching!  This past month we had people as far as Romania to Australia celebrate and participate in the project! 

If you have a blog you can grab our button (widget is located on the home page far right) to let others know you are a part of this project.

When you Tweet about the project you can use #dmprojectkindness and #randomactsofkindness to help spread the news!

Thank you for helping spread kindness and loveliness dandelion moms!