Books On The Beach Annual Fundraiser
Since 2014, friends of Opening Doors for Westerly’s Children have gathered to raise awareness and financial support for the organization at this summer fundraising event. Donations raised have been directed toward a number of mission related purposes and special projects such as the Elementary School iPad Tablet project. In 2019, a special Books on the Beach honored the memory of our co-founder, Nancy Loney. The Mrs. Nancy Loney Legacy Fund was established to recognize Mrs. Loney’s vision of helping children in our community through literacy outreach efforts. This fund will be directed towards mission-centered activities and to support the growth of the organization. Contributions can be made to the Mrs. Nancy Loney Legacy Fund at the Books on the Beach event or at any time throughout the year.
Dear Friend of Opening Doors for Westerly’s Children,
We hope that you are enjoying your summer and you and your family are well. Unfortunately, we will not be able to host our annual Books on the Beach event in person this year. Instead we will be hosting our first annual golf fundraising event.
Although we are not able to gather this summer, our organization has been busily working with our various community partners reorganizing our programs amidst this current health situation. Our traditional methods of distributing educational supplies through book parties are not available to us. However, through creativity we have modified our methods and continued to serve our young friends in the Westerly community. We have partnered with The Jonnycake Center of Westerly and The Savoy Bookshop and Cafe to assist us in distributing our Summer Reading Program — enabling us to provide over 500 books this summer to children grades kindergarten — 5th grade. In addition, we will be working with the South County Community Action’s Head Start preschool program and will be serving 70 children providing backpacks, preschool supplies, and distributing over 200 books. We are also delighted to share the Summer Learning Camp has returned (modified) and is hosted by the Town of Westerly’s Recreation Department. We were able to provide sponsorships to attend the camp and camp themed books to the participants.
It is our desire to host Books on the Beach events in the future. Until then, please support our other outreach programs. Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Sergio F. Cherenzia, President Donna K. Simmons, Co-Founder Jodie Kluver Koretski, Executive Director
Mrs. Nancy Loney
