Book fair turning pages this weekend

Perrysburg Christians United to hold fair at 577 Foundation

7/30/2013
BY MATT THOMPSON
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    577 Foundation on April 26, 2012.

    The Blade/Amy E. Voigt
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    • The Perrysburg Christians United is holding a book fair at the 577 Foundation this weekend from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

    The non-profit organization is operating the center from July through September, but this weekend is the only time they will receive 100 percent of the profits. The 577 Foundation lets four different non-profit organizations come in annually and operate the donation-driven book center and the organization collects 50 percent of the donation profits. The other 50 percent goes to Read for Literacy.

    Susan Jones, along with other volunteers, goes to 577 Foundation every day to shelve books and keep it clean. She's waiting until the three months are over to see how much was raised for the 577 Foundation.

    "I have absolutely no clue how much it will be," she said of the check the foundation will receive.

    Spoiler alert: 577 Foundation Assistant Director Jay Wagoner said that one month into running the center the Perrysburg Christians United has raised $1,000 - $500 each for Perrysburg Christians United and Reading for Literacy. 

    "PCU has been doing an excellent job running the Book Center, especially for a brand new group who has never operated the Book Center in the past," he said. "Susan Jones and her volunteers have been a pleasure to work with. They have done a wonderful job at keeping up with the flow of books."

    This weekend only the book center will also be accepting two non-perishable food items for books as well. The PCU organization runs a food pantry in Perrysburg.

    Ms. Jones is hoping the 10 churches in PCU are able to bring in plenty of traffic through bulletins and announcements with their own members. They are: Blessed John XXIII, First Presbyterian Church of Perrysburg, First United Methodist, Grace United Methodist Church, Lutheran Church of the Master, Shepherd of the Valley, St. Rose Parish, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, Stonebridge Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and Zoar Lutheran Church.

    "We've had volunteers from all of the churches helping," Ms. Jones said. 

    Ms. Jones and the rest of the volunteers are hoping for a big weekend to keep raising money to keep the food pantry replenished. Ms. Jones said at 50 cents a book they will need very high traffic - and hopefully good weather. 

    "We always expect good crowds during these weekends," Mr. Wagoner said. "Book fair weekends can earn anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to over one thousand dollars, depending on the weather, number of people and the quality of books available during the weekend."

    Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com, 419-356-8786, or on Twitter at @mthompson25.