Published Date: September 16, 2019
Meet Molly Tannehill, who graduated from NKU in May 2018 and works as a substitute teacher. One afternoon each week, Molly serves as a Book Buddy at Our Daily Bread’s Kids Club.
“I love having a way to get actual books into kids’ hands. Everyone is pushing technology so much these days, but it’s really important for kids to hold books, to interact with the pictures. You can’t do that with a screen.”
Book Buddies is volunteer program that operates Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Kids Club. Volunteers help kids select a book, and then let the kids read aloud to them. The process gives the youngsters confidence as they read aloud. After each book, the kid crosses a square off on their Book Buddy Bingo card. When they complete a Bingo, they win a pack of sugar-free gum. While the kids may be in it for the Bingo, Molly knows that reading means so much more. She shared one of her favorite stories from her past two years as a Book Buddy.
Located in Over the Rhine in downtown Cincinnati, Our Daily Bread’s Kids Club provides year-round afternoon activities and homework help for kids age 5-12 who live in the OTR neighborhood. A Dater grant allowed Our Daily Bread to provide a caring, stable environment for kids to play, learn, craft, do homework and eat a healthy snack. In addition, the Our Family Table program provides a bag of groceries each Thursday to help Kids Club participants augment their family’s food supply over the weekend. Kids Club supports about 25 children.
