In April, Central Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC) partnered with the Chatham Education Foundation (CEF) to bring Books on Break to Moncure School. Organized by Chatham Reads, a program of CEF and Chatham County Schools, Books on Break is a free book fair in which students from pre-K to fifth grade get to select 4-5 books each to take home and read over the summer. The goal is to help prevent summer learning loss.
CEMC not only paid for the books but also provided all the volunteers who set up the fairs, helped students pick their books, and pack up. Kathy Havens, program manager for Chatham Reads, said, “Central Electric was amazing. It’s so comforting to know that there are others in the community who share our same goal of ensuring our county’s students have access to free books.”
Each year, CEMC chooses a service project that aligns with their value of “concern for the community.” Past projects include Buddy Backpacks and Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed building. This year, they knew they wanted to focus on literacy, and Books on Break stood out as a perfect fit, said Meg Moss, CEMC’s director of marketing and member engagement. “We’re proud to support a program that puts books directly into the hands of students and helps build a lifelong love of reading. Through both financial support, and serving as volunteers at the book fair, our employees left the book fair feeling confident they had made a difference in the life of a child.”
Here is a video showing Books on Break in action produced by CEMC about their time volunteering at Moncure School.
CEMC was aware of the Books on Break program because, for the past three years, CEF has applied for and received $3,000 Operation Round Up grants from the corporation. These grants are part of a volunteer program in which Central Electric members can choose to round up their electric bill to the next whole dollar each month in order to help those in need.
The Chatham Education Foundation is grateful for the corporation’s support. CEF Executive Director Brittany Sandefur said, “Central Electric is one of our greatest champions. Their partnership stands out as a model for what we can do when our community steps up to make sure every child can be successful at school.”