BOATERS FOR BOOKS VOLUNTEERS & DONORS

Boaters for Books is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit literacy project celebrating a decade providing new and used books to young people throughout the Caribbean. It is an effort that requires many hearts and hands. Here we recognize some of those individuals, schools and organizations whose contributions have contributed to our success.

Tropical Shipping of Miami, Florida provides free shipping of donated books to the islands. “Without the generous support of the people of Tropical, we would be unable to fulfill our mission, explains Director Kathy Oberle (shown here with husband Dick), “donations can be used for books instead of covering the cost of shipping.”

The all volunteer efforts of Boaters for Books are also supported by the Ann Street Mini Storage in Punta Gorda, which provides space to store, sort and pack the books, The Andreae Group, Re/Max Harbor Realty, for the truck used to deliver books to the shipper, and by the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association, for their advertising and book collection efforts.

Melodye Pompa aboard the sailing vessel Second Millenium continues to provide invaluable support coordinating delivery of books to the islands served by Boaters for Books. Melodye and husband John operate the daily single side band “ Safety and Security Net” for cruisers in the Caribbean. Second Millenium’s home port is in Carriacou in Grenada.

Melodye’s parents Ernie and Mary Hamer, their friends and school contacts (they are former teachers) have produced hundreds of books and cash donations over the years.

Heather Grant, who owns Erika’s Marine Service on Union Island, continues in her tenth year coordinating the St. Vincent & Grenadines project. Heather divides her time between a home in Canada and her second love, the tourism business in the beautiful Grenadines. She and her husband, long computer specialists in everything Mac, are now entrepreneurs dedicated to making life easier for the yachtsman.

A new partner in the literary efforts of Boaters for Books is the non-profit organization Hands Across the Sea, also dedicated to enriching the lives of Caribbean children. Directors Harriet and Tom Linsky collected books this past year for Union Island and Dominica and are in the process of enriching the library of our first school in St. Kitts. They live aboard their catamaran, dividing their time between New England (summers) and the Caribbean (winters).

Edie Smith, a retired Sarasota teacher, continues to be a major contributor. She and Punta Gorda resident Marilyn Conklin coordinate the Operation Bahamas Project, which transports learning materials and school supplies via private yachtsmen each year to the Bahamas. Boaters for Books is the beneficiary of hundreds of donated storybooks that come their way each year.

Book donations and collaborative efforts this year involved residents and organizations from across the United States as well as in the Caribbean. Major donors included Jenny Setzer and the children of the Congregational United Church of Punta Gorda, members of the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association and Port Charlotte residents who donated books at The School Box at 4060 Tamiami Trail. Teri Bayus of Prismo Beach, California sent books specifically for the public library in St. Georges, Grenada. She is busy collecting more books. Anyone near her home town can contact Teri directly to assist in shipping. Email Boaters@boatersoforbooks.org for contact information. Architect James Thomas sent dozens of library books from the Ames Free Library in Massachusetts.

Other 2008-2009 donors include Al and Theresa Ackerman, Nancy Cantor of the University School of Nova Southeastern and dozens of others from both cruising and land locked communities.

Boaters for Books is grateful for the support and assistance of both the Seven Seas Cruising Association and Women Aboard, organizations that represent thousands of boaters worldwide. Members of these organizations and dozens of boating and non boating friends comprise a wonderful community dedicated to bringing the gift of reading to those less fortunate than ourselves. We are grateful as well for the endorsement and support of The Moorings, Ltd. (www.moorings.com) and the Moorings Owners Group. The Moorings is one of the world’s largest charter operators, with bases throughout the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific.

Boaters for Books is deeply appreciative of the generous donations made by some very special Benefactors and Supporters.

Most notably, our special corporate donor, BRODART, INC, dedicated service to libraries for over 60 years! Please visit www.brodart.com. Learn more about this exceptional organization of dedicated employees. We received hundreds of re-cycled books from libraries served by BRODART, and those books are now being enjoyed yet again by young people in Carriacou, Grenada.

Margaret (Margie) Y. Langras of Waterloo, Iowa has become an exceptional benefactor. Her generosity will make it possible for us to help offset the cost of shipping books within the United States, and to purchase specific books requested by schools and libraries. She is pictured below with the entire Langras family.

We are working now on compiling a comprehensive list of financial contributors, all of whom have been personally acknowledged for their generosity.

For their book raising efforts, we wish to acknowledge the wonderful and ongoing work of the Rotary Clubs, most notably the Peekskill, New York and Greenhills, Tennessee chapters. The Peekskill Rotary has made Boaters for Books its international literacy project for three consecutive years. SSCA members Charlie and Linda Gruetzner have been instrumental in Peekskill.

Special thanks to the following donors for inventive and productive book raising campaigns:

• Mahopac (NY) High School Literacy Volunteers
• University of Maine Graduate Honors Program
• Shapleigh Memorial School, Maine
• Tom and Sally Stokes, Silver Springs, MD
• Captain Kim Ibasfalean, Cortez, FL
• Dawn Castro and the Girls Scouts of Middletown, Ohio
• The Soroptimist Club of Schenectedy, NY
• Bruce Elder and the U.S. Power Squadrons of Savannah, Georgia

Thanks as well to Mabs Sanok in Port Townsend, Washington. Mabs is a tireless fundraiser for BFB; she manages our Usborne web site. Edie Smith and Laura Roberts have rescued hundreds of wonderful books from the Sarasota, Florida school surplus store and continue to be our partners in literacy. Edie has for years collected books for the children of the Bahamas. In Punta Gorda, the dauntless task of re-packing, labeling and organizing falls to volunteers Nancy Klaren and Almut Haswell, who also mine for books throughout the Charlotte County area.

Jane Young-Anglim of Connecticut has single handedly built school libraries and computer centers in Tobago, where she maintains a home. Jane is now organizing donations from the Northeast U.S. for Grenada from her summer home in Connecticut.

Without these wonderful people, including those we have not yet acknowledged here, we could not do our work and forward our efforts to increase the scope of literacy in the Caribbean.
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Our thanks to Colleen Dieckmann and The Lumberts of Orlando, Florida for designing our website and keeping it up to date. To Donna Gillroy of Naples, Florida our non-profit fund raising consultant. And to CPA Merwin Ullestad of Nashville, Tennessee for his accounting and consulting services. Without these wonderful volunteers we could not properly present our story or carry out our mission.

Help us raise the standards of Caribbean literacy.
Through your generosity we will ship
Our second 100,000 children's books before 2011.
Cash and book donations are tax deductible.