A book sale to benefit an elementary school in the Central African Republic is set to take place at Magnolia's Church of the Ascension 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1 and 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Aug. 2.
"This is our fourth annual book sale," said organizer Betty Mueller. The Central African Republic (CAR) is a poverty-stricken, rebel-ravaged country where students have to furnish their own supplies to go to school, she said.
Mueller first heard about the country several years ago when a doctor from the CAR stayed in her home while studying in Seattle, she said. And a second doctor from the CAR who stayed with Mueller put her in touch with a fundamentalist church that runs a school in Bangui, the nation's capital.
Roughly two-thirds of the residents in the country never make it to school because they can't afford it.
Adding to the difficulties, the teachers at the church's adopted elementary school were on strike for several months this year because they hadn't been paid, Mueller said.
But the school re-opened on May 31, and the money donated for supplies by the Magnolia church was "the talk of the town," she said.
The Church of the Ascension, at 2330 Viewmont Way W., is still looking for donations for its sale. With the exception of encyclopedias, textbooks and computer manuals, books are acceptable, of course, but so are videotapes, DVDs and CDs, Mueller said.
The donations can be dropped off at the church's Dewitt Hall 9 a.m.-noon and 7-9 p.m. Monday, July 28 through Thursday, July 31.
The church raised between $1,500 and $1,800 for the African school during each of its first three book sales, and Mueller said she is hoping the church can raise $2,000 this year by broadening the support base to include all of Magnolia.[[In-content Ad]]
