Montgomery County Recreation to Distribute New Books Donated by First Book - Montgomery County

For Immediate Release: December 10, 2014

Montgomery County Recreation to Distribute New Books Donated by First Book - Montgomery County

Montgomery County Recreation will distribute more than 2,000 new books donated by First Book – Montgomery County to participants in its Excel Beyond the Bell and Rec Zone afterschool programs. The books will be distributed this week.

First Book is a nonprofit enterprise that has distributed more than 120 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families throughout the United States and Canada. The new books are intended to encourage recipients to read during their leisure time while on winter break.

“We are very grateful for the generous donation from First Book Montgomery that will provide Excel Beyond the Bell and Rec Zone participants with new books to read during the holidays,” said Recreation Department Director Gabe Albornoz. “Having an age-appropriate books to call their own can often be a first step in helping youth to discover a love for reading.”

“We were delighted to find such a great fit for these books,” said First Book – Montgomery County Chair Tanya Lee. “The books were from our second annual Books on Wheels campaign where we distribute more than 40,000 books to wonderful county programs like Excel Beyond the Bell.”

Excel Beyond the Bell is a collaborative afterschool program offered by Montgomery County Recreation; Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth, and Families; and Montgomery County Public Schools. The program provides students with immediate access to after-school recreational and social programming, academic support, hot meals, bus transportation home and professional development for youth workers. Excel Beyond the Bell is currently offered in seven of the County’s middle schools: A. Mario Loiederman, Argyle, Col. E. Brooke Lee, Forest Oak, Montgomery Village, Neelesville and Roberto Clemente.

Rec Zone (formerly known as Sports Academy) is an afterschool program that serves Blair, Springbrook Watkins Mill and Wheaton high schools. Available at no cost to students, Rec Zone offers extensive recreation and leisure programming such as dancing, disc jockey workshops, basketball, special interests clubs and academic support.

For more information about Recreation Department Youth Development programming, call 240-777-8080. For more information about First Book, visit www.firstbook.org.

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Media Contact: Judy Stiles, 240-777-6875

MEDIA PHOTO OP – The media is invited to attend the end-of-year celebration at Argyle Middle School where the books will be distributed on December 11 from 3 to 3:30 p.m. The school is located at 2400 Bel Pre Road, Silver Spring.

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