Children at three S.C. Title I schools to benefit from donation by South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church
South Carolina children in need will receive funding for new books for their school libraries thanks to a gift from the South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church.
The South Carolina Conference of the UMC donated $22,000 to three Title I schools in the state: West Lee Elementary School, Rembert; Main Street Elementary School, Lake City; and Greeleyville Elementary School, Greeleyville.
The schools received a check Nov. 18 for $7,665.28 apiece.
The funding came about thanks to a Million Book Effort the South Carolina Conference of the UMC initiated in 2014. United Methodists across the state were asked to donate funds and books to the initiative.
“There was over $22,000 in the Million Book Effort account that churches had given to our book drive last year,” said Martha Thompson, chair of the Children in Poverty Task Force for the South Carolina UMC. “Several on the Children in Poverty Task Force asked the State Department of Education to identify schools that could benefit from these funds for their media centers and for books, especially since education became a focus for our conference. The State Department of Education identified three schools based on reading scores, state and federal priority lists and amount of state and federal funds they currently receive. All three schools are Title I schools with 94 percent receiving free or reduced lunches.”
Thompson, along with other UMC leaders including South Carolina Resident Bishop Jonathan Holston, made a road trip around the state Nov. 18 to personally present the schools’ principals with their check.
Thompson said the timing of the donation was especially fortuitous; Scholastic Books in Columbia will have a 50-percent-off sale Dec. 9-18, and teachers, media specialists and others can use those funds to purchase more than $14,000 in books.
Bishop Holston gives Dr. Shemmica Moore, Principal of Main Street Elementary money for books from the SC United Methodist Church
Mrs. Berlinda Mack, Principal of Greeleyville Elementary receives library money from The South Carolina United Methodist Church
Student High-fives SC United Methodist Bishop Holston after West Lee Elementary Schoolrecieves money
