Stories of Hope - Armando

A Personal Story of a "Lending Library" Vision

by Jazma Ball, Assistant Director
Easter Seals Washington Angle Lake Child Development Center

Armando

We would like to introduce you to Armando, one of our new volunteers at our Easter Seals Washington Angle Lake Child Development Center. 

Armando set out on a mission a few months ago; he wanted to create a Lending Library for the children at Angle Lake Child Development Center.  In the last few months, he has spent over 30 hours encouraging his classmates to donate books, and organizing all the donations as they came in.  The result is truly amazing. 

Armando secured over 100 donated books and has now created our first Lending Library at Angle Lake!  This is enough for all the children at the center to check out at least 1 book, take it home and enjoy it with their families.  They can keep the book for as long as they want and then return it when they are ready for a new one to enjoy.  Armando was able to collect popular titles such as, Make Way For Duckling by Robert McCloskey, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton, and The Life Cycle of Insects by Louise Splisbury.

Sarah Moon

The children are loving the opportunity to experience all the new books.  As you can imagine, their parents are excited about this new program too.  Just ask toddler Sarah Moon, who says "books are better than snacks!"  Sarah chooses to pick out a book every day when she leaves, instead of taking home the afternoon grab and go snack that the center offers.  "Thanks for the library. Sarah is reading to me on the way home," Sarah's mom, Julie, told us when she sent us this photo of Sarah.  We think this captures just how impactful this program has already been.

Armando is an amazing young man, with a big heart and we are SO thrilled that he is a part of our volunteer team! 


We interviewed Armando about what made him decide to organize such a wonderful program.  Full interview below.

Lending Library

What made you want to donate books to the center?
"I wanted the kids to have the opportunity to have a book in their house. When I was little I didn’t have books in my house. If you have books in your house you can read better.”

How many books did you donate?
“About 100, I knew you had that many kids in the center. That’s enough for each kid to take a book home and read.”

Where did the books come from?
“I asked people at my school to help me collect different books. Then I spent 30 volunteer hours collecting them, and organizing them." 

What was your favorite book as a child?
"Scooby Doo."

Interested in volunteering at one of our programs?  Click here to learn more about all of our volunteer opportunities.

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