Mission Accomplished:
Rotary Club of Sedona delivers Books for the World project
By Linda Clark - PR for RC of Sedona
 
November 23, 2016Sedona—Gary Karademos and John Crawford of the Rotary Club of Sedona delivered two truck-loads of 15,000 books collected from Sedona area Schools to The Seabrook Rotary Club in Houston for their "Books for the World" program.
 
John Crawford said the idea came to him when his son spent a semester teaching math at a village school in Tanzania. “James reported back to me that his class of 23 had to share just one math textbook—yet here in the U.S. we throw away tons of textbooks every year.”
 
Through Rotary International connections, Crawford found the Seabrook Rotary Club's Books for the World program, which, having already shipped more than 12 million books, is effectively Rotary International's second largest program, after the Polio Eradication project.
 
By July, Crawford had filled garages of Rotary Club President Jennette Bill and Rotarian Chuck Marr with books. On Nov. 7, Rotarians and friends loaded two moving trucks with the books bound for Texas. Off Karademos and Crawford went on the three-day drive to Houston where they met Books for the World program directors, Charlie and Barb Clemmons.
 
The warehouse in Houston already contained 450 pallets, about 450,000 books, and a semi load from North Texas pulled in just ahead of the Sedona convoy. The Sedona load will just about fill a shipping container bound for Africa, India or Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of books reused rather than being recycled or trashed.
 
Thanks go out to the Red Rock High School, West Sedona School, Big Park Community School, Verde Valley School, Mountain View Elementary School, Sedona Public Library and many individuals in Sedona who contributed books, time and money for this project.