Summer Picnic with Mom2Mom and 1000 Books
For the fourth consecutive year, the RBS donated bags of books and bears for the children of Mom2Mom (M2M). Mom2Mom is a community-based organization supporting mothers and children living in Vancouver’s inner city, and a sister organization to the RBS. The RBS began just after M2M was established in 2012 when founding M2M member Dr. Joanne Roussy, upon witnessing homes depleted of books, and young children struggling at schools, went on to co-found the RBS along with Dr. Isabel Chen and an inner-city school principal, Lani Morden.I had the pleasure of representing the Reading Bear at M2M’s annual summer picnic at MacLean Park on July 26th. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, and it was heartwarming to see the smiling, mingling mothers and mentors enjoying time together while their children ran around playing happily in the park. Despite the fun activities and the food, the children gathered to listen to books with the theme of Mother Bears. I had two mother bears along with me: Denise, the RBS’s favourite stuffed Grizzly bear, and Dianne Hsu, my own mother (dressed as a brown bear). Together, we share bear facts with the children, read a book aloud, and distributed over thirty bags stuffed with books, each labelled with a child’s name and age. We watched children’s eyes lit up when they received bags of books heavier than they could carry, and saw a surprising number temporarily abandon their games to settle down on a picnic blanket with a book.At their foundation, both the RBS and M2M share a mission to reach children early in life to equip them with the tools needed to nurture well-being: whether it be through books and a reading companion, or mentorship to support resilient mothers. The RBS is thankful for its partnership with M2M, as well as all our book donors and fundraisers for making our continuing support for M2M families possible. This year over 1 000 books and snow leopards were donated, complements of Telus. Beautiful Photos by Vivienne McMaster - Thank-you !