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Team YC poses at the Kids' Book Bank

50 Acts of Kindness: Kids’ Book Bank

One of the ways YC is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year is by paying it forward through our 50 Acts of Kindness project. One partner YC has supported is the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank. They have distributed over 5 million free books to 100,000+ kids in Greater Cleveland and continue to distribute 50,000 books per month.

Maggie Chambers, a YC teen volunteer, did a service project this summer to collect old books from friends and neighbors for the Book Bank. Her original goal was to collect 100 books from July 5th to 19th and ended up collecting all those books in one day. Altogether, she collected 647 books.

In September, other participants and volunteers got to help the book bank as well! They sorted books, grouping them together by sport, and putting them in bins. At the end, each participant was invited to look through bins arranged by reading level and select a book. Participants and volunteers also got to use their photo booth with lots of props. (Participants loved the Cat in the Hat hats!)

Supporting childhood literacy in Cleveland is just one project initiative we’ve taken on through our 50 Acts of Kindness initiative!

Here is a list of other service projects we’ve done so far:

  1. Collecting Pet Supplies for Northeast Ohio SPCA
  2. Hygiene Collection- for Charles Mooney School (CMSD)
  3. Making bird feeders for Northeast Ohio SPCA
  4. Making dog treats for Northeast Ohio SPCA
  5. Making pet toys for Northeast Ohio SPCA
  6. Can collection for Aluminum Cans for Burned Children (ACBC)
  7. Pull tab collection for Ronald McDonald House
  8. Watercolor greeting cards for YC alumni in the community
  9. Motivational Posters for Corner65 Kids
  10. Plastic grocery bag collection for Lorain County Schools (Lorain County Solid Waste Management Campaign)
  11. Trail mix for YC Teen Volunteers for Volunteer Appreciation Week
  12. Pinch pots for moms for Mother’s Day
  13. Creating hand-decorated onesies for babies in the NICU
  14. Leaving kind messages and art for students at Laurel School
  15. Poster-making for runners and walkers for Where Will Color Take You? 2026
  16. Learning sign language
  17. Donating cutting strips and squares of fabric to Sew 4 Service
  18. Creating sunshine boxes with fun items and snacks for the Westlake Rec Center Peterson Pool staff
  19. Creating a gratitude gardland decoration for the 50th Anniversary Bash & Reunion
  20. Building “birthday in a box” kits for local food pantries
  21. Teen shout-out board at the YC overnight sharing encouraging messages to peers
  22. Making encouraging notes with treats attached for visitors to YC’s HQ
  23. Picking up trash at Wallace Lake
  24. Creating sunshine boxes with fun items and snacks for the Shaker Heights Thornton Pool lifeguards
  25. Hiding joke cards in little free libraries to share a laugh
  26. Learning how to help the environment at the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle program
  27. Restocking Free Little Libraries around different communities with new, used, and books on disabilities
  28. Volunteers sewing the names of YC participants who have passed away on the Disability Pride Quilt
  29. Passing out handmade flowers to visitors at South Central Park
  30. Sorting books at the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank
  31. Painting rocks with messages of positivity

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