A Small Move of the Needle

Good morning!

Last December (as you may recalls), the BryonySeries B.L.O.C.K.S. team organized two holiday children's book drives.

We had a donation box at The Book Market in Crest Hill (spearheaded by Rebekah) to collect BryonySeries children's books (Bertrand the Mouse series, The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, and Girls of the BryonySeries series) for Santa Services, as we've done in the past.

But we also decided to collect BryonySeries books and other children's books for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center after learning they had a need for them throughout the year.

We finally have the results of our efforts.

We sent fifty Bertrand the Mouse to Santa Services for since Santa loves to give books away at his appearances for low-income families.

A few patrons at The Book Market bought BryonySeries and other children's books for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center. And Jan Staley, the store's owner, donated some, too.

And then Cindy piggybacked and expanded the book drive for the center at her work place, which provided most of the books we wound up donating.

So earlier in April, we brought nearly 250 books (230 from Cindy's workplace) to the Will County Children's Advocacy Center.

We waited this long because the donations at Cindy's workplace kept coming even after the holidays.

Of course, Cindy removed any book appeared damaged before donating them.

Cindy also received donations toward BryonySeries books for events B.L.O.C.K.S. will host or participate in during the year.

As you might recall, Timothy and Daniel participated in the Will County Children's Advocacy Center "Men Who Cook" fundraiser on October 11, 2025.

We remember the date because it was Daniel's thirtieth birthday.

And Daniel worked the event on this milestone birthday with a migraine.

The children's book drive (and other donation events we've hosted) was a lot of work, and we know we're not moving the needle of meeting the need in the world by very much.

We certainly don't have the time and resources of major corporations that can really make an impactful difference.

But we also believe small blessings can, when added up and in due time, yield big results.

Years ago I read it's always better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

So we try not to let our lamp go out at night.

Have a most blessed day!