Books Bless the Center for Women and Children

The UGM Center for Women and Children in Coeur d’Alene was recently the beneficiary of 1,400 books, the culmination of the Eagle Scout project of a local teenager, Nicholas Olmo.  

As he was considering what project to do for his Eagle Scout rank, he began to think about how much he loves reading, and about how he would love to do a book drive. The question was which organization would reap the most benefit?

When Nicholas came across the UGM website, he watched the videos and read about everything that UGM does for the poor and homeless, including the long-term recovery programs. He was so impressed that he decided to conduct the book drive and donate the books to the UGM Center for Women and Children.  

Nicholas devised the collection strategy to include a book drive through his church, enlisting 20 scouts from his troop and his family. He also collected books via one-on-one solicitation from family, friends, and neighbors.   Here are the details in Nicholas’ own words:

               “I put together posters to advertise the book drive and placed them at our homeschooling co-op and at our church. I also organized our scout troop to solicit books in the community and I made map routes for the neighborhood we were going to solicit from. I made flyers to further advertise and drop-off boxes. Our troop collected the books. I counted and organized the books into categories.

               “So, there were three different ways I got the books -- 1. I set up a donation drop off box at my church and school so people could donate that way. 2. My scout troop and I made bags that had flyers with details on the service project, and solicited from a neighborhood, going door to door. 3. Random- people donated in different ways, by dropping them off at my house, or I pick them up at their businesses, like my orthodontist. 

               “My favorite part of the project was delivering the books and seeing how much I had helped UGM. That sense of accomplishment, I guess.”

What Nicholas didn’t realize is that, in addition to providing some wonderful books for the Center’s women and children, he helped to spread the good news of UGM’s mission in our community here in Northern Idaho.

THANK YOU NICHOLAS FOR BEING OUR SUPER PARTNER!   Our appreciation goes out to Nicholas’ family, not only for helping Nicholas with the logistics of the book drive, but also for raising such a remarkable young man!

- Marsha Reese, Vocational Education Coordinator, Center for Women and Children

Inspired by Nicholas' donation? You can help the homeless too. Give a night of shelter to someone in need.