BOOKS PURCHASED WITH MATCHING ROTARY GRANT

               Sooner Rotary has received and matched a grant by Rotary District 5770 to supply $4000 worth of books on traumatic situations for Red Oak Elementary School in Moore, Sooner Rotary President Lucinda Francis announced.

               The book topics cover such topics as grief, homelessness and other tragedies that can occur in the life of a child, plus books on tornados, Francis said.

               Red Oak will share the books with Plaza Towers and Briarwood, the elementary schools destroyed in the May tornados. The families of students will also be able to check out the books through the media center interschool loan program.  Working with Sooner Rotarians on the project were Tammy Gibbs,media specialist at Red Oak, and Linda Cowan a retired Norman Public Schools media specialist.

               Rotarians volunteered time to unpack, label and shelve the books and will work with children on developing reading skills.  "Supporting literacy in our community is at the pinnacle of community service," Francis said. 

               Assisting Francis in writing the grant proposal was Sooner Rotarian Tanya Stewart. Others who helped in the book project were Rotarians Wade Stewart and Christie Hill, and volunteer  Paul Navarro. Other Sooner Rotarians who have volunteer reading with elementary students are Paul Woodson, Fred Benenati, Glenda Thomas, David Imy, Jeannine Baker Keith Busking, and Polly Christian plus 15 members of the Rotaract Club.