By Amelia Willmer
One avid bibliophile nabbed the entire set of Winston Churchill’s memoirs for just two dollars on Saturday.
The book-lover was one of scores of avid readers who snapped up hundreds of books on sale at Warwick Sunrise Rotary Club’s Tooth St headquarters.
With youth crime now on everyone’s radar, and the growing realisation of the social pressures on young people growing up in country towns, Rotary is using proceeds of the book sale to support local young people.
“It is important to get the right perspective on our wonderful young people,” said secretary and treasurer Dell Maxwell.
“In Warwick, we have lots of good, talented kids. The shadow of the youth crime emergency can sometimes detract from how positive some of us feel about young people and it can make us blind to the many positive and good things they achieve and what good, decent people they are with values that will make them good adults.”
Dell thanked the community for donating books for the sale which raised more than $1000.
“We had some absolutely amazing boxes of donations, including some from deceased estates which contained many interesting and unique volumes,” she said.
“It is never easy to decide what price to put but, believe me, some of the customers knew exactly what they were looking for.
“The money we raised on the day will top-up the reserves in our community account for other Rotary projects.
“We have just sent four young Warwick High School Students to Rotary District Youth Seminars and we have assisted one young local adult to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Seminar.
“The total cost of all these camps was approximately $4000 but it is worth every cent.
“These young people return back in to our community with a sense of purpose and confidence. They learn skills that set them on the right path for a bright future.
“Rotarians are very serious about supporting the youth in our community.
“At the moment, the club is also supporting literacy in Sri Lanka.”
