SJ student goes for gold by donating hundreds of books

EVESHAM - Laura Duffy and her mom were driving along listening to the radio one day when the idea hit them: their library could probably use some help.

Tuning into National Public Radio that day got their creative juices flowing.

“The speaker was a musician from a Spanish-speaking country," said Duffy, a junior at Cherokee High. "He was discussing how some of the bookstores that he normally purchases books in Spanish had closed down and how the libraries didn’t really have that many options."

That’s when Duffy’s idea for her Girl Scout Gold Award project was born.

Duffy, an avid reader, had been searching for a topic for her project. She and her mom went to their local branch of the Burlington County Library System and looked online as well at the selections that were offered “and we found out that it was similarly barren” for books written in Spanish.

“I’ve always had a passion for reading,” Duffy said. “Just the idea that some other group of people from our community wouldn’t have as much access to literature they can enjoy as I did really struck me as sad, so I really wanted to help with that.”

She said their research found that less than 1 percent of the collection provided by their local library system was in Spanish while 5 percent of county residents speak Spanish.

Through fundraising, and a $1,000 grant, she collected enough money to purchase 129 books written in Spanish and donated them to the Burlington County Library System.

In honor of the accomplishment, there will be a celebration/opening of the collection on Sunday at the Burlington County Library in Westampton from 1 to 3 p.m. in meeting rooms A and B.

“It’ll basically be a celebration/opening of the collection,” said the 17-year-old, who said there will be food, people will be able to check out the books, sign up for library cards. There also will be tours of the library done in Spanish.

Duffy, who has been a Girl Scout for 12 years, said the Girl Scout Gold Award — the highest award a Girl Scout can earn — is designed to encourage large service projects that make a lasting impact on the community. The projects require 100 hours of work and must be run and completed by the individual, with some assistance from others.

Her mom, Tamara Duffy, also her troop leader and one of her adult mentors on the project, gave her plenty of assistance with the project. She also assembled a review board to help her decide which books to buy and donate. Her goal was to raise enough to buy 100 books.

“We did a car wash, a bake sale and also applied for a grant from the (Donald) Rentschler Foundation and they helped us out a lot with that," she said. "We also had some money in our Girl Scout Troops account that we put towards our project. We did a couple of small fundraising events over the summer, but it’s mostly been throughout the year.”

Duffy said her Cherokee classmate Abi Sanie is also in her troop and recently completed her Girl Scout Gold Award project. The pair fundraised for their projects together at times and split the money between them.

Duffy is glad she’s remained a part of Girl Scouts for so many years.

“Part of what inspired me, of course, my mom is my troop leader, but that’s not entirely why I stayed,” she said.

“It’s a really great outlet to get involved with your community and give back and we do a lot of just generally fun projects and trips. I’m in a troop with a bunch of my friends so it’s also an opportunity for us to do good work in the community together.”

Celeste E. Whittaker: @cp_CWhittaker; 856-486-2437; cwhittaker@gannettnj.com

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