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The parents of the graduating class at Beginnings Preschool wanted to teach their children an age-old lesson: It’s important to give back. With kids being all about fun, the organizers used it as the foundation for its dance-a-thon to support the Charles Santore Branch of The Free Library of Philadelphia.
No one imagined a month later, after spending nearly two hours on their feet, the children would be walking down South Seventh Street carrying a check worth $3,283.86 made out to the Charles Santore Library.
"The end result is pretty impressive," said Ani Maiten, whose son Elias was in this year’s graduating class at the 10th-and-Bainbridge school. "A group of 29 3 to 5 year olds can raise more than $3,000 in a matter of a month, and it didn’t even take much to do."
While some of the kids didn’t last the entire time, in what Santore children’s librarian John Crimmins described as a "hop-a-thon," the group accomplished its goal. Each participant had to pledge for donations.
And the timing of the June 17 event, Crimmins said, "couldn’t have been better."
The students presented the donation to the facility last Friday, and the moneywill be used to purchase supplies beneficial for its young visitors including a bike rack, globe and a new shelf for Spanish books. Crimmins noted some of the finds are going to be used to purchase "a small token of appreciation" for the dedicated preschoolers.
The funds from the event are arriving at a difficult time for the Free Library of Philadelphia, as its budget dropped by 20 percent — a loss of approximately $8 million — and it’s at risk to lose further funding. The Santore branch has not been forced to succumb to emergency closings like other libraries throughout the city, but the Bella Vista community has been hard at work to ensure its nook on the corner of Seventh and Carpenter streets remains functional.
The Friends of Santore Library have been working diligently to raise awareness about its new Web site, www.santorelibrary.org, which distributes a newsletter and collects donations.
Last month, after the FX Network show "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" shot scenes at Ninth and Carpenter streets, the group stopped by Santore to drop off a check for an undisclosed amount.
"The library is a great resource for Philadelphia’s kids," the show’s location manager, Bill Arrowood of Third and Federal streets, said. "We want to remind people that we are from here too."
And it was the community that pulled through for the dance-a-thon.
"It wasn’t hard to get sponsors from local businesses," Deborah Stern Silver, the mother of Beginnings graduate Eliana, said. "Living in the city, the businesses depend on the local community."
When asking for pledges, some parents and children sent out mass e-mails, but others depended on neighbors.
"One woman had her daughter go door-to-door and nearly everyone on their block contributed," Maiten said.
She also received an envelope overflowing with change from a preschooler totaling $11.86.
But not every community has the same dynamics when it comes to raising money and dedicating time. Though Sandra Horrocks, the Free Library’s vice president for communication and development, said all libraries "basically get the same" budget for the fiscal year depending on the building’s layout.
"Some libraries have a lot more money poured into them," Maiten, referring to the fact that a fundraiser as large as the dance-a-thon has never been done before to raise money for Santore, said. "It all depends on the community and the economics of the neighborhood."
Horrocks said that though she has seen "some increase in contributors" for The Free Library, one issue remains.
"The problem is, we need so much money," she said. "We appreciate everyone’s generosity, but it’s not going to replace $8 million."
The Santore branch remains a significant spot on the South Philly grid and is, according to Crimmins, "heavily trafficked." Maiten borrowed books from the branch when she was a child and up until he graduated last week, her son Elias visited the facility with Beginnings once a month to hear Crimmins read a story.
"He doesn’t remember we’ve already read books," graduate Alice Hall, with her dark curls bouncing as she bobbed her head, said. "We say, ‘Mr. John! Mr. John! We read this last time!’"
The struggle the library system is currently undergoing also is a story the city has already heard, but the ending has yet to be written. If the state does offer less funding for the libraries as Gov. Ed Rendell has said, the Santore branch, along with branches all across Philadelphia, might have reduced operating hours.
"We really are unknowing," Santore branch manager Janet Puchino said. "The community has saved us before when we became an express branch [in 2005], and people have been so supportive thus far, but if the community doesn’t have the impetus like they did before, who knows what will happen."
Though Maiten said Elias, 5, understood the impact they were making "to a certain extent," the phrase fiscal crisis was irrelevant. In fact, the library was one of many places scattered throughout Bella Vista that the parents felt the money could help. Ultimately, they decided on Santore because it was a place the children were familiar with and the organization serves a number of people, including those who are searching for jobs or applying for unemployment using the facility’s computers and children who don’t attend Beginnings, like Gao Qui Hua’s son, Kevin Yang.
Hua, of Eighth and Radar streets, said her son was not strong in school when he first started, but after she began habitually bringing him to Santore, his teachers at the nearby Nebinger School, 601 Carpenter St., have seen a great improvement. Even over the break from school, Hua brings her 3-year-old daughter Yihuan to read and play while her son attends the afternoon session of Science in the Summer to learn more, a running theme at the library.
Midday in the summer, Crimmins is often overwhelmed with the number of children running in and out, some there to sign up for summer reading, others to simply hang out and play board games with friends.
"It was a madhouse in here earlier," Crimmins said.
