Month-long book drive benefits Lauer’s Park Elementary
As part of the “The Santander Arena Gives Back” initiative, the Santander Arena and Santander Performing Arts Center accepted book donations at its venues throughout the month of May. Over 2500 new and gently used books were donated to Lauer’s Park Elementary School. Approximately 200 books were added to the school’s library and every student received a book to take home for the summer.
The Santander Arena had set out, not only to send each student home with summer reading, but to connect, and reconnect, the community with this school. Travis Blanding, a Lauer’s Park alumnus, was proud to donate a large number of books to his former school with the help of his co-workers . Blanding stated, “This was the first time that I was able to give back to a school that I will always remember and cherish.” He reached out to a representative at the Santander Arena after dropping off his donation with gratitude for “building that bridge that allowed me to play a part in giving back some way, somehow.”
Lauer’s Park Elementary School is located in the 6th ward within the city of Reading, PA. The school educates over 800 students from Pre-K-5th grade. The school instills within its students the confidence to become productive citizens and life-long learners. The students at Lauer’s Park come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and many students are learning English for the first time. The school’s vision is to engage students in active learning and meet individual academic needs. Placing diverse books and literature into the hands of the students is one of the most important things the school could do for its students. Providing books to young students who may not otherwise have access to them will help ensure that every child can develop into the best learners and successful students they can be and maintain their education throughout the summer.
