Students use book fair to help children

ROME TOWNSHIP — A book fair is under way at Fairland Middle School this week, and a group of students are using the event to contribute to a good cause.

The student council at the school is asking people to purchase and donate books to the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital in Huntington.

The hospital is a unit within Cabell Huntington Hospital, which cares for children from throughout the Tri-State.

Holli Leep, of the student council, said the student council’s goal is to collect 50 books for the hospital so that each child can receive a book.

Leep said there have been many contributions to the effort, but more are still needed.

“We’ve had several, but we don’t have 50 yet,” she said.

Leep said the idea for the collection came from Jimmy Roberts and Michelle Gorby, two teachers at the school who sponsor the student council.

She said the student council has teamed up with the National Junior Honor Society, who will also send bottles of bubbles to the children.

The campaign runs through Friday.

Leep said students who would like to contribute to the cause should drop by the book fair at the middle school.

The Scholastic book fair offers a variety of book for teens and young adults and serves as a fundraiser for the school, Angie Wireman, a K-8 librarian, said.

She said in addition to sales, Scholastic will match donations that are made to family literacy programs.