Andrews – One Dozen Who Care and the Andrews Public Library held an awards ceremony Thursday for those who participated in the fifth annual Black History Month reading challenge.
The Nantahala Regional Library partnered with One Dozen Who Care for the fifth annual reading challenge for students in kindergarten through 12th grades held during Black History Month in February.
A total of $435 was awarded to 29 participating students from both Cherokee County Schools and homeschooling groups, who read a total of 89 books.
Kristen George, a member of One Dozen Who Care, once again presented the awards to those present at the ceremony, which included a certificate of completion and the monetary award of $5 per book read.
Anne Miller Woodford shared a brief speech chronicling the history of her father Purel Miller’s contributions to Cherokee County and his commitment to fostering
relationships across racial barriers in the community. Woodford also told the anecdote about how her father received his name.
“My grandfather named him ‘Pure,’ but knew that no one could live up to that name, and so he added the ‘l’ and the rest is history,” Woodford said.
Woodford encouraged those present to “listen and pay attention to the stories of your elders. They are part of you, they will become important to you one day.”
Sarah Hardman, a board member with One Dozen Who Care, was on hand to help distribute the cash awards.
Another attendee – Christian White, a local chef and graduate of One Dozen Who Care’s former 10-10-10 Youth Program – shared some words with the young crowd.
“Listen to these women. They care,” he said. “They know how to help and guide you.”
White’s daughter, Krislynn, was also there to receive an award while his younger son, Cash looked on, eager to someday be among those credited with keeping history alive.
Light refreshments were served and family members in attendance also enjoyed perusing the stacks of the collection, which can be accessed year-round in the Purel Miller African-American Book Collection, permanently housed at the Andrews Public Library on Main Street downtown.
This annual reading challenge encourages and promotes the collection to celebrate African-American heritage each February and also includes history local to Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties.
Details: Visit facebook.com/odwcinc and facebook.com/AndrewsPublicLibrary.