Women's group donates books to Kenneth Young Center
On Dec. 11, Kenneth Young Center welcomed representatives of the General Federation of Women's Clubs Northwest Suburban Woman's Club, a 501(c) 3 philanthropic organization that supports local, state and national organizations with time and monetary donations.
The ladies had written a grant to their national offices to support the purchase of almost 50 children's books for Kenneth Young Center's waiting rooms, hand selecting each book to support the social-emotional development of children, as well as books written in Spanish for the approximately 25% of Kenneth Young Center's behavioral health clients identifying as Latino.
The women were introduced to Kenneth Young Center by one of their members, Mary Crompton, who took a leadership role in the project and personally picked many of the books being donated.
Crompton has worked as a librarian for more than 20 years, and holds a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, making her the perfect fit to put her skills to work to benefit Kenneth Young Center's youth and families.
"We are deeply grateful for the volunteers and supporters who use their talents to enhance our service to clients," said Grace Hong Duffin, president and chief executive officer for Kenneth Young Center.
"These books will help reinforce therapeutic and learning goals for our youth, as well as strengthen the bonds of our families as adults and children read together. We can't thank GFWC Northwest Suburban Women's Club enough!"
After delivering their first set of books, the club shared that this donation is just the beginning of their partnership. They plan to collect new and gently used children's books in the new year to ensure Kenneth Young Center's waiting rooms have a rotation of new books for young readers across all four of its locations serving youth.
Kenneth Young Center provides mental health services to children as young as 3 years old through individual, group and family therapy. In addition, Kenneth Young Center is proud to work in Northwest suburban middle and high schools to provide drug, alcohol and pregnancy prevention programs that inspire youth to take leadership roles in building stronger, healthier communities.
To learn more about Kenneth Young Center's programming, visit www.kennethyoung.org.
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