As part of "Book Link," an ongoing project developed by Rotary East, 46 children at Rainbow Early Learning and Child Care Center were given early Christmas presents.
Rotary East members delivered 150 books to the child care center this week. Each of the 46 children at the center were given a book. The rest of the books were donated to the center, according to the Independent.
Rotary East and Rotary International support this program with donations of books, and sometimes money, according to Corinne Van Rensselaer, past president of Rotary East.
"A lot of Rotary members from the mainland visit St. Thomas regularly and are aware of the huge literacy problems we face," Van Rensselaer said. "The fact that they've been here gives them a real interest in our program."
Book Link was the brainchild of Rotary East President Greg Miller after attending a Rotary International conference where he saw several presentations on worldwide literacy.
According to Van Rensselaer, Rotary International has taken a position that it is essential to give people the tools they need to learn and therefore become part of society.
"The basics — food, shelter — one has to have those before they can achieve anything else," said Van Rensselaer. The same goes for literacy. The earlier children have access to books, the greater their chances of success, she said.