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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Young students across Shelby County have recently enhanced their home libraries thanks to a successful book drive conducted by employees of Alabama Water Utilities and a local mentoring network.

Coordinated in close partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby County, the drive was held at the end of this past school year and managed to collect more than 250 books that benefited numerous local children throughout the Shelby County area.

The effort sought to develop and encourage each receiving student’s enjoyment of reading and worked to build each child’s ability to take part in the activity, even while outside of school and during the summer break.

As part of their role, members of BBBS helped to determine the children who received the books and also helped to distribute the materials to their respective homes.

“Our employees and their families had a great time collecting books for local students and we were thrilled to top our goal of collecting 250 volumes,” said Guy Locker, general manager of Alabama Water Utilities. “We enjoy supporting our local students and schools, and this was a great way to get our whole team involved.”

The Shelby County satellite office of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham first opened its doors in late 2014 and has since established itself as an acting force in the community. Since its opening, the office has partnered with more than 20 schools within the county and has gone on to serve more than 300 individual children with the organization’s dedicated focus and trademark approach.

As an organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters strives to help participating children by partnering them with dedicated volunteer mentors. Those mentors work closely with the children and seek to develop a supportive one-to-one relationship that is meant to help each child reach their full potential.

This effort by Alabama Water Utilities follows their recent service as the main sponsor for the Arc of Shelby County’s Swinging Fore Achievement Golf Tournament that also took place in May.

Those interested in learning more about Big Brother Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham, or those looking to make a donation or become a mentor themselves, can do so by visiting Bbbsbhm.org.