Written by: Ainsley Hall and published in The Martinsburg Journal on April 8, 2025, link to the article HERE.
HEDGESVILLE — Hedgesville Middle School’s Student Council put together a book fair to raise money for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization dedicated to building beds for kids in need.
From March 24 to 28, the Student Council led and organized the book fair, which allowed other students to buy books they’ll enjoy.
It all started when seventh grader Bailey Carrell wanted to find a way to give back to her community. After watching a TV show, she had the idea of starting a book drive to help other students get books and raise money for a local nonprofit. Carrell saw that books can be expensive and, as someone who loves books, wanted to give students the chance to own books of their own.
Council advisors Kaylee Hutchinson and Rachel Wilt thought it was a great idea. Carrell worked together with fellow seventh graders Sydney Young, Grace Young, and Fiona Hall to organize the books and worked with other Student Council members to run the book sale.
They asked parents and others in the community to donate books, then sold them for $1 to $3.
“We realized it takes a lot of hard work to do something like this, but the end result is worth it,” Carrell said. “We are also more capable than we realize. At the start, we only had five book donations. I was worried it would be a dud, but soon, they really started coming in.”
They collected more than 600 books. Throughout the school week, classes took turns visiting the Book Fair.
With help from the school librarian, Kelly Sholl, who helped them go through some of the books and gave them space for the Book Fair, the event was a huge success. More than $1,200 was raised to donate to a local nonprofit.
Just last week, members of the Student Council decided they would donate the money to Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s local chapter. They wanted to make sure they donated to something local and saw the impact they were having on the community by making sure every child has a safe and comfortable place to sleep. Hutchinson shared that they are still looking to build 68 beds for kids in the area.
The students shared that they had a lot of fun working together with their friends. Though it took a lot of time and hard work, it made them surer of themselves and their ability to make a difference.
This week, they are selling the remaining books for a dollar, with plans to add those funds to their donation. Any books left over will be donated to Eastern Panhandle Instructional Cooperative. Carrell, Sydney and Grace Young and Hall all agreed that they would love to organize the Book Fair next year and make it an annual event.