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Local couple plans book donation to aid Louisiana school
By Justin Goble
More than eight months after Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Lousiana and Mississippi, people are still seeking help to rebuild.
A Jackson County couple is doing their part to help out, while taking part in what they call a “family pasttime.”
Richard Allen and his wife, Jill Ghnassia, will deliver a load of children’s books to Riverside Elementary School in Gulfport, La. The books were bought from the Friends of the Library used bookstore.
“I heard about the effort through First Baptist Church,” Allen said. “They were collecting books for a school in Gulfport, La. So I got involved.”
Richard Allen and his wife, Jill Ghnassia, sort through books at the Friends of the Library used bookstore on Main Street. The two have been collecting various children’s books from the store to send to the library of Riverside Elementary School in Gulfport, La., which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina more than eight months ago. According to Allen, he found out about the the need for books through First Baptist Church, of which he is a member. “They were collecting books,” Allen said. So I got involved.” – Herald photo by Justin Goble.
Finding books to send was something of a challenge, Allen said. The librarian at Riverside had requested specific children’s books, since those were what filled most of the library’s shelves prior to the hurricane. Allen said finding some of the books required going through the stacks and shelves at the Friends’ Bookstore on Main Street.
Though he hasn’t been able to find every title requested, Allen said he and the librarian have been in constant contact, and he has been able to find some books that weren’t on the list that would be suitable.
“They wanted to know what titles we would be sending,” Allen said. “The librarian doesn’t want old textbooks. She wants children’s books. I found a number of them that weren’t on her list, so I asked her if they would be OK. She liked most of them, so I took them.”
Allen said he got a lot of help from Friends of the Library for the project. He got in contact with the organization’s president, Mary Selzer, to try to find some of the titles. Along with locating them, Allen said Selzer sold them the books at a discounted price.
“The volume of titles was just staggering,” Allen said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute. This will take forever.’ I thought a number of the books may have been released from the library, so I called Mary to find out.”
The next step is delivery of the books, which Allen said he was unsure if he would do himself or have through a delivery company. If he can’t make the delivery himself, Allen said there are ways to get them to Louisiana free of charge.
“I have a degree in transportation and physical distribution,” Allen said. “I also spent time as the traffic manager for one of the nation’s 10 largest relief organizations. I know that the freight can be had for free.”
The biggest reason for the couple’s devotion to this project was their fondness for children, Ghnassia said.
“We have four sons and a granddaughter,” Ghannasia said. “We love kids. And they love Richard, too. He’s like the Pied Piper to them. We couldn’t imagine children going to school without books.”
Though she and Allen are often busy with work and other affairs, Ghnassia said visiting the bookstore is something dear to them. Getting books to send to Louisiana was a good opportunity to spend time in the store while helping out others, she said.
“Richard is very busy, despite the fact that he has leukemia,” she said. “But coming in here is a pasttime for us. It’s good to do this and help kids.
“I think (Friends of the Library’s) willingness to help is reflective of the community,” Ghnassia said. “The Friends staff are extraordinary people. It’s always fun to come in here, but now I have a greater joy. My boys love to come in here too.”
The books are only part of what Allen has been doing for the devastated region. Prior this project, he and Ghnassia delivered clothes to the Gulf Coast.
“I don’t like to do anything half-speed,” Allen said. “So I bought out a thrift store that was going out of business so I could send clothes down.”
Due to some items left behind from First Baptist’s original trip to the area, Allen was able to send the clothes down with a shipment from the church earlier in the year.
“Members of First Baptist went down initially to do repairs,” Allen said. “They forgot to take the hymn books (that were donated). So we sent the clothes down with them. They were delivered free of charge by a trucking company out of Asheville called In Jesus’ Name Trucking.”
Though their current efforts have been a large undertaking, Allen said he and Ghnassia are looking to help out more, either in the community or outside of it.
“We want to keep helping wherever we can,” Allen said.
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