Youth at General Synod support literacy by Stuffing the Bus

Avon Lake United Church of Christ was one of the many participants of the Youth and Young Adults Stuff the Bus Program at General Synod 2015, an effort by the StillSpeaking youth of the denomination to collect as many books as possible to support literacy. The Ohio-based congregation in suburban Cleveland donated more than 2,000 books to the cause. 

Avon Lake UCC pastor the Rev. Kelly Brill represented her youth group’s efforts by bringing a handful of books to the Stuff the Bus event, while the remainder will be delivered directly to the collection center.

“We have two book clubs and a lot of people who read, and it’s great to share that love of reading and to be part of General Synod in that way,” Brill said. “It’s our pleasure to be a part of this. We’re excited to bring these books into new homes.”

Nate Taylor, Avon Lake UCC’s director of youth ministries, took the challenge seriously and got the youth involved. The church used its youth center as a collection point, and collected the books during several months this spring.

“We have a retired teacher who brought dozens of books from his collection,” Brill said. “We have children books and reference books — the whole spectrum.”

Books from all genres making their way into the makeshift school bus in the Youth Hall in the Cleveland Convention Center will be dedicated and blessed, and then sent to help Bridge of Faith, a joint project of Faith UCC in Union, N.J., and First Congregational Church of Verona, N.J., which supports health, education and human service programs in Awka, Nigeria.

The Stuff the Bus event was inspired by the 6,000 books collected by youth at the 2012 National Youth Event.