Generosity helps woman out of Catch-22

Sherry May has found a way out of her Catch-22, thanks to an outpouring of suburban generosity.

May, an Elgin resident who runs not-for-profit Go With Books, recently sought help getting thousands of books and supplies to needy Louisiana students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Go With Books, incorporated in October, distributes unwanted books to needy communities around the country. It is unable to accept monetary donations because it hasn't yet been granted 501(c)(3) tax code status.

And, as a newly founded organization, Go With Books has no money to put toward a rental vehicle, which in total would cost hundreds.

"We're in a Catch-22," May told the Daily Herald on Jan. 4. "I thought (transporting the books) was going to be a no-brainer. Heck -- I can get a rental car for $15 a day."

Now, through a coordinated effort from a Glendale Heights logistics company, a Winfield musician and an Elgin office supply company, May's books will travel down to Louisiana this week.

"People from all over the suburbs, even as far as Texas, called after reading the first article -- just volunteering what they had," May said last week.

After "a lot of time on the phone" a plan was hatched using a pool of resources.

Ron LaFleur, the Winfield musician, helped May and Go With Books' secretary Dawn Farris transport the books from May's garage to JBS Logistics in Glendale Heights.

The company, which functions as both a trucking company and transportation broker, often sends its trucks down to Texas, and occasionally through Louisiana.

To better place the books on the pallets inside one of their 53-foot trucks, Continental Datalabel Inc. of Elgin provided 40 new boxes.

The books will be driven down to Baker, La., sometime next week, said JBS president Alec Gizzi.

The shipping cost for the load of books would probably be between $700-900, Gizzi said.

"We'll absorb that cost. It's a good way to start off the new year. My wife teaches, and we understand that they need help and its something we can easily do," he said.

LaFleur, who has made three trips to the New Orleans area since the 2005 hurricane, is friends with Harold Rideau, the mayor of Baker, a small town just north of Baton Rouge.

"I gave him a call, and he found a dock to store the books until the educational programs can pick them up," LaFleur said.

The final destinations for the books and supplies are Baker's Renaissance Village and East Baton Rouge Parish Laboratory Academy.

Renaissance Village, the nation's largest trailer park, houses hundreds of hurricane evacuees. Its learning center's after-school programs and adult literacy classes need books, pencils, markers, papers, glue sticks and crayons.

Just 10 miles away, East Baton Rouge Parish Laboratory Academy opened in August to accommodate a large influx of students to the area after Katrina.

Designed through a partnership between the East Baton Rouge Parish school system and nonprofit Advance Baton Rouge, the existing school occupies a six-classroom wing on Istrouma High School's second floor.

School officials said they hope to soon have books for each classroom, more for the library. They also need science lab materials, calculators, cameras and projectors.

May will fly down to Baker on Feb. 1, and plans to meet with students and teachers from both programs.

"I haven't bought my plane ticket yet, but that, in the grand scheme of things now, doesn't really seem like a big deal."

May says she's thankful to all the "key players" in this journey.

"You hear a lot about the bad, but you don't often hear about the good," she said. "This is just an example of all the good and wonderful things people do."