Growing up in the Philippines, Rosa De Dieu loved to read.
She would pore over whatever she could find, from comic books to the newspaper.
“Any chance I got to read, I would,” she said.
De Dieu knows that not everyone in the country where she was raised has the same access to reading material, though.
So in 2019, she organized a book drive. By the end of it, De Dieu sent more than 11 boxes of books to schools in remote areas of the Philippines.
“Our community was so generous,” she said. “I had one children’s author who donated brand new books.”
Each year since then, the Georgetown resident has tried to help out. In recent years, she has bought school supplies for students, and during the pandemic she collected personal protective equipment for seniors in the Philippines. While De Dieu did those two largely on her own, she is asking for the community’s help for her latest endeavour.
De Dieu is again collecting children’s books, but is expanding to include baby and children’s clothing, as well as activity items for children with special needs.
She had a chance to visit some of the schools that received the books in 2022 and saw first-hand the impact the donations were having. She said the students were quite appreciative.
“They were very thankful,” De Dieu said. “They were so happy.”
She said the books donated to libraries had sign out cards in the back, allowing her to see how often the reading materials were being used by the students.
De Dieu, who was raised by her aunt, also visited an orphanage while in the Philippines and noticed there was a lack of activities or games to stimulate babies and toddlers. That’s what led to expanding her collection this year.
Donations for this year’s drive can be dropped off at 39 Miller Dr. in Georgetown. De Dieu plans on collecting through October and shipping the donations in November.
Anyone interested in donating can also email [email protected].
