Campus Ministry and the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity are holding their annual inmate book drive, inviting the campus community to participate in supporting residents at Kent County’s Correctional Facility.
Donation drop-off box – Photo by Lauryn Jelsema
The drive helps bring lightly used books to inmates, and while all genres are welcome, textbooks are discouraged.
The event is two weeks long and coincides with both MLK and St. Thomas Aquinas week (Jan. 19 through Feb. 1), and this is not by accident.
Donations in AB lobby – Photo by Lauryn Jelsema
“We’ve done this because, in part, it’s a practical way to give people more time to donate to the book drive and because it’s a meaningful way to live out the Dominican pillars through a tangible act of compassion and service,” Mike Ingram, director of Campus Ministry, said. “By collecting and donating books to inmates, we honor both Dr. King’s legacy and our mission of serving others through this gift of hope, learning, and dignity.”
The goal of the book drive is to allow students and staff to participate in the values that MLK and St. Thomas Aquinas week are centered around: compassion, learning, and service.
During a past drive, Father Bob Keller commented on behalf of Campus Ministry, “This book drive is meant to offer some humanizing quality to inmates’ lives. It is a Dominican trait to nurture the intellectual life that leads to contemplation in the soul.”
There are multiple drop-off locations scattered throughout campus: the first-floor AB lobby, the Moose, JLH lobby, and Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel. Donations will still be accepted up until Feb. 1.
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