They help local schools, early intervention programs and needy kids. Things you can't get from an agency. Reading revelations Growing up, Kara Vona's love of reading was often encouraged, but little did she know that years later she would encounter children who did not even know they were allowed to read. Kara, a UF anthropology senior, takes time each week to go and read to the children at Hidden Oak Elementary School. It was a fulfilling routine until she encountered one little boy who opened her eyes and inspired her to start a book drive that she hopes will one day go national.
Some children arrive for class in clothes that offer little protection against the cold weather.
Others go without breakfast before coming to school, she says. And 82 percent of the students at three Gainesville elementary schools are on free or reduced lunch, according to statistics from the School Board of Alachua County. The children, often from single-parent families, are eager to learn and receive whatever help their parents and teachers can provide. But Kara would like to give them a little extra help. I want them to have something that's new and is bright, and is shiny and is theirs.