With the help of a $500.00 grant from the 4-H Community Service Grants Board, Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary School Club SAVE completed a community service project with the Grace House in Clearwater. Under the guidance of club president Grace Boudreau, Club SAVE collected 1118 books and constructed 12 book cases to be placed in the 12 apartments offered for temporary housing at The Grace House. Last year alone, Grace House provided housing to 544 people, 355 of them were children. In an attempt to solve local community homelessness, Club SAVE set out to identify a problem and a way to fix it. That’s when the idea of providing free books for homeless families came about. “Books would not only encourage reading but provide a way to escape from a stressful environment” said Grace Boudreau in a Final Report submitted to the Community Service Grants Board of Directors summarizing the project. To read a little more about this project and others like it, check out the Grants Board portion of the upcoming Cloverleaf and go to http://www.pinellasteeninfo.com/ to see pictures from the event.

By Richard Livingstone, 4-H Youth Mentor

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