What started out as just an idea of one ninth grade student in May quickly became a crusade.
Katherine Weiser of Bellwood, like many of her friends, utilized the resources at the Bellwood-Antis Public Library on many occasions. Whether it was for internet privileges for a school project, researching, finding a good book or even just as a quiet, safe place to unwind after school, many students rely on the availability of this facility.
“I thought it was really important for us to do something, since we all heard about the library funding getting cut,” stated Weiser.
Thus the idea for the ‘Save The Library Bake Sale’ was born.
Pulling in recruits was the easy part. Fellow classmates Angela Brandt, Caitlin Stotler, Amanda Mortimore and Michelle Woodcock were more than ready to rally for the cause.
After many phone calls and a lot of leg-work, a game plan was created. The group of students shouldered the responsibility of selecting a date, contacting head librarian, Hazel Bilka, soliciting for donations, signing-up volunteers for baked goods which included some of their own friends and teachers, creating flyers and distributing them throughout the town and, of course, trying out their own baking skills.
The day of the sale finally arrived. Since the students spent hours the day before, pricing items and setting-up, they were ready to go. From noon until 3:30 p.m., on June 19, this small group of concerned, community-minded young people held up signs on the sidewalk and peddled their wares.
As a result of their efforts, a donation was then presented to the Bellwood Library for the amount of $152.
When asked about the volume of work and the number of weeks it took to plan this event, Caitlin Stotler summed-up the feelings of the entire group by saying, “It was definitely a lot of hard work, but it was worth it. We can’t take our library for granted. Everyone has to do their part.”
