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URGENT Need for Donations

This generous donation of textbooks by Council Rock School District has created a pressing need for funding to transport the books to South Africa.  Herron & Associates, LLC of Media, PA, a freight forwarding company, has offered to ship the containers “virtually at cost” which means that they are essentially donating any profits they would earn to the organization. However, there still exists and outstanding amount of $7,500 and Miss Vicky’s Non-Profit Foundation is seeking contributions of any monetary level.  A corporate contribution would be a great way for a local corporation to make a big difference in the lives of hundreds of kids.  

Courier Times Article

CR donating thousands of old reading books

By Chris English Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, June 21, 2012 12:00 am

Thousands of old elementary school reading books no longer needed in Council Rock aren’t going to waste.

The school district is going to a different elementary reading program starting in the 2012-13 school year and replacing all the reading materials, said Director of Elementary Education/Curriculum Services Joy McClendon.

The old books are going to various places. Most recently, Council Rock arranged to donate 21,000 of them to Miss Vicky’s Children’s Education Fund, a nonprofit foundation founded by Northampton resident Debra Marra.

Marra’s group will arrange for and fund shipment of the books to the Vusamanzi Primary School in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, South Africa. The children there will be thrilled to get them, she said.

“Half the people there are illiterate and I’m a firm believer in the fact that education is one of the best ways to improve the world,” said Marra.

She started the foundation after a visit to Cape Town and the surrounding area in 2007. The nonprofit is named for Vicky Ntonzini, a Cape Town resident who devotes much of her life to helping children get an education and assisting them in other ways.

In addition to the shipment of books, the foundation is also funding much of the expense for Council Rock reading specialist Laura Harrington to teach at the Khayelitsha school for several weeks later this summer.

McClendon, Marra, Council Rock students and staff and other volunteers recently helped pack the reading books for shipment.

McClendon said she and other school district officials first tried, without success, to see if a publisher wanted to buy the old reading books. Council Rock then let any students who wanted the books take them home.

With thousands of volumes remaining, district elementary schools found creative ways to deal with the issue, said McClendon.

Students and staff at Sol Feinstone Elementary School in Upper Makefield joined with the Newtown Rotary Club to donate thousands of the books to schools at Native American reservations in New Mexico and South Dakota. And at Wrightstown Elementary, arrangements were made to ship many of books to children in Haiti, said McClendon.

“It’s very rewarding to know these books will be put to good use in these places and will help children learn how to read,” she said.

For more information on Marra’s foundation, visit missvickyschildrenseducation.blogspot.com or email debra.lynn.marra@gmail.com.

Press Release 2012

Non-Profit Sends Third Teacher to Cape Town, South Africa

Khayelitsha Township eagerly awaits skill set of USA teacher

We are pleased to announce the upcoming departure of our third volunteer teacher, Laura Harrington, to Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town, South Africa. Laura is a reading specialist in Council Rock School District of Bucks County, PA. In addition to volunteering several weeks of her time to educate children in Khayelitsha, fellow teachers in many Council Rock Elementary Schools held dress down days to raise money for the shipping of donated textbooks and reading books in anticipation of the building of a school library. Previously Tanya Anderson, Welch Elementary School Guidance Counselor and Caroline Kerns, St. Joseph’s University graduate offered their teaching skills to Khayelitsha’s children.

Assisting with loading books at a Council Rock’s Goodnoe Elementary School include Joy McClendon (Director of Elementary Education/Curriculum Services), Sue Kacergis, Patricia Erickson (RELA Curriculum Coordinator, K-6), Rick Plassio, Nicole Crawford (Principal at Goodnoe), Mike Hellman, Ellen Wilson, Laura Harrington, Holland resident and Temple University student Julie Erickson, Churchville resident and CR South Senior Ross McDaniel and Holy Ghost Prep student and Ivyland resident, Christopher Marra. 

Council Rock School District generously donated 21,000 primary school level language arts textbooks which will be shipped via ocean container to Vusamanzi Primary School in Khayelitsha.

Holy Ghost Prep students Brian Nachtburn, Christopher Marra and Joe O’Connor filled the first truck load from Welch Elementary, Churchville Elementary and Richboro Elementary.

To follow Laura's daily activities during her stay please visit,

http://missvickyschildrenseducation.blogspot.com/.

A fundraiser to enjoy South African wines and cheeses will be held locally later this summer.

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Laura, please email Debra at missvickyseducationfund@gmail.com.