Herald Story of Our Book Donation
Posted on Thu, Apr. 26, 2007
BY ROCHELLE OLIVER
On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, curling up with a good book seems like a good idea. But 11-year-old Elan Radick had a different idea: He and his family spent the day on the lookout for books in Bay Harbor Islands.
It was the second year for Elan's Bay Harbor Islands Book Drive, which he started to collect books for children who can't afford to buy them. Elan, a sixth-grader at Ruth K. Broad Elementary, explains his rationale succinctly: ``I love books.''
Last year, working with family, friends and neighbors, he collected more than 1,000 books, which were donated at Biscayne Gardens Elementary. This year he had bigger plans, to gather 1,500 books. So he cast a wider net throughout the town, asking residents to participate by leaving their books on doorsteps or dropping them off at town hall.
A TV station even took notice and ran a news story on his book drive. Saturday, around 10 a.m., Elan started making the rounds in Bay Harbor Islands. His dad's SUV made more than three trips around the west island, where the family lives. By 1 o'clock, more than 20 boxes lined the walkway in front of Elan's home. ''There has to be, like, 1,000 books,'' Elan said with excitement.
BY ROCHELLE OLIVER
On a drizzly Saturday afternoon, curling up with a good book seems like a good idea. But 11-year-old Elan Radick had a different idea: He and his family spent the day on the lookout for books in Bay Harbor Islands.
It was the second year for Elan's Bay Harbor Islands Book Drive, which he started to collect books for children who can't afford to buy them. Elan, a sixth-grader at Ruth K. Broad Elementary, explains his rationale succinctly: ``I love books.''
Last year, working with family, friends and neighbors, he collected more than 1,000 books, which were donated at Biscayne Gardens Elementary. This year he had bigger plans, to gather 1,500 books. So he cast a wider net throughout the town, asking residents to participate by leaving their books on doorsteps or dropping them off at town hall.
A TV station even took notice and ran a news story on his book drive. Saturday, around 10 a.m., Elan started making the rounds in Bay Harbor Islands. His dad's SUV made more than three trips around the west island, where the family lives. By 1 o'clock, more than 20 boxes lined the walkway in front of Elan's home. ''There has to be, like, 1,000 books,'' Elan said with excitement.
Then the report that ran on NBC 6 also had a ripple effect. Elan's mother, Lauren Radick, who is the PTA president at Ruth K. Broad, announced she has received e-mails from people as far south as Kendall, with promises of even more books.
As of Monday, Elan had collected more than 2,200 books. They will go to children at Parkway Elementary School in Miami Gardens. ''I'm definitely glad that I'm giving all these books to people,'' Elan said. ``It gives them something to do -- if they do their homework already and they don't want to do violence. Books give me something to do whenever I'm bored instead of just floating around and just watching TV.''
Adam Kosnitzky, assistant principal at the school, notes that a majority of the students at Parkway are on a free lunch program. "For a lot of our children, this gift is priceless,'' Kosnitzky said. ''Some of the books we're just not able to get because of the scarce resources,'' he said, and because of Elan, ``they'll get books they never would have been able to achieve.''
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