By Angela F. Durkin
MARTINSBURG -
For several years, the Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary Club has helped put books into the hands of second grade students.
According to Jackie Fearnow, club secretary, they have just completed the 11th year of their student book program, now known as the Eastern Panhandle Reading Program (EPRP). She said program is a year-long effort which requires organizers to continually seek out new funding, vendor and partner resources.
Beginning in 2014 as Read Berkeley, the Rotary Club has created a movement that connects local second grade students with a collection of books of their choosing from Scholastic. Each year, the club distributes the selected books, which are packed in a convenient backpack, for the kids to take home to read over the summer break.
According to Fearnow, they have created a custom-made catalog that includes nearly 70 titles from which students may select.
“The kids get to pick their books,” Fearnow said. “We have bilingual books. We also have some emotional intelligence books. It’s a custom-made catalog that we get to create every year for the kids to choose their books from.”
The program operated as Read Berkeley through 2019. During the first year, 65 students received backpacks and the last year the program operated as a county-wide program was in 2019, serving a total of 650 students.
The program was expanded in 2020 to include schools in Jefferson and Morgan counties. In 2020, they provided 1,748 students with books and have grown that number to 2,166 this year.
To fund this program, Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary has worked to receive grants throughout the years, which have included organizations such as Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, Ecolab, the City of Ranson, WISH and from author Nora Roberts. In 2023, they also received grants from P&G and from Martinsburg Rotary.
Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary also gained support for EPRP from the Charles Town, Shepherdstown and Berkeley Springs rotary clubs. They not only assist on the financial side, but members form these local clubs help volunteer to pack the backpacks once the books are shipped to each school.
“The other Rotary Clubs in the Panhandle — we could not do this without them,” Fearnow said. “The Charles Town club, the Shepherdstown club, The Martinsburg noon club and the Berkeley Springs club, as of this year, have all financially and physically supported this program.”
This program also would not be possible without the help of school principals, second grade teachers, guidance counselors, school librarians, county administrators at the school level and community parents and volunteers.
Arleen Blackall joined the club last year. After she saw the reaction from the first group of students who received their backpacks, she wanted to increase her involvement in the program. She now serves as chair for the bonanza.
“I joined a year ago in February,” she said. “Last year was my first taste of being involved in the book program. We went and helped the kids pick out their books, so that was kind of chaotic. But, when I went back to my first school and handed the books out to the kids, I was hooked. I went to three more schools that same round.”
Blackall was thrilled to step up and serve as the chair after she was approached by Fearnow.
To help raise EPRP funds, organizers host a yearly bonanza event in the fall. This year, the event will be held Oct. 25 at the Moose Lodge in Martinsburg. Tickets will soon be available for purchase.
“The tagline this year is ‘Where Adventure Begins,’” she said. “It’s all about the adventure of reading and immersing yourself in reading and literacy.”
Fearnow explained that tickets include entry for two people to the bonanza and are priced at $50. The event will include dinner and dancing, with music and emcee services from Rick Rohn, raffles and a silent auction.
“It’s $50 for the ticket,” she said. “That’s two entries into the event and one entry on the elimination board. That includes food, unlimited draft beer and non-alcoholic drinks for two people.”
To prepare for the bonanza, the club is working hard to arrange donations for the silent auction. So far, the club has already been offered several exciting donations, including a vacation at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland.
Fearnow said anyone is able to donate to EPRP by visiting their website, attending the bonanza or directly through members of the rotary club. To stay up to date with their announcements, follow Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary Club on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MartinsburgSunriseRotaryClub.
The Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary Club meets at 7:30 a.m. Tuesdays at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. For more information, visit at https://martinsburgsunriserotary.org/.