Red Cover Book Club meets Tuesday at Amy's

By Lilly Richardson

Book clubs tend to be a place where bored housewives get together and gossip.  In Sweet Gypsy, the thirty women of the Red Cover Book Club do anything but gossip.  This summer they donated 3,000 books to underprivileged children and more than $11,000 in school supplies to children in rural Afghanistan.

"Our little group just likes to read and help people and we've found a way to do both," says Lucy Rock, president of the Red Cover Book Club.  "Typically we choose our charity by identifying a need from the book of the month that applies to our community."

The June title, Escape, was a memoir from an Afghan refugee who described the lack of school supplies in her Badakhshan Province school.  Rock contacted the province parliamentarian, who happens to be a woman, and arranged for delivery of the supplies through the US military.

Children in Badakhshan
watch supplies arrive at their school

"Escape is an incredibly moving tale.  It's a universal story," said Rock.  "Once a year the club hosts two fundraiser events and this year,Escape moved us to help Afghan children but it also moved us to help local children.  If we are the greatest nation in the world, then all our children should have every opportunity to succeed.  The books and supplies we donated hopefully offers something better than their circumstances both in Afghanistan and here."

For September, the group is reading Green Willow and will meet at Amy's on the square at 7pm.  Newcomers are always welcome.  Red book covers can be picked up at Sweet Gypsy Books.