Rochester's Goal of 1,000 Children's Books
Every year, come the Christmas season, The Salvation Army distributes gifts to hundreds of families here in Olmsted County, MN. Last year, more than 900 children who received Christmas presents from the Toy & Joy Shop.
As of today, we are six months away from Christmas, and we are reaching out to encourage everyone in our community to donate new and gently used books in the month of July so that, come this Christmas, our team will be able to distribute at least one book to every single child.
"We've been truly blessed by kind people donating all manner of gifts for kids of all ages," said Major Candace Voeller, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army in Rochester, MN, "What we haven't been able to do over the past couple of Christmases is to give children something new to read. Books expand kids' minds, they take children on adventures, and they help them to learn. It's our hope that our neighbors will read this, and be a part of our efforts to gift a book to all of our kids this winter."
With the number of children The Salvation Army expects to serve this Christmas, our team hopes to collect 1,000 children's books in the next month in celebration of Christmas in July. Books will be collected at 20 First Avenue NE, Rochester, MN 55906 Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm. Please call 507-288-3663 ext. 3802 with any questions about this effort.