HOLT, Mich. — Remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, but also promoting education.
That's what some people in Holt aimed to do as they passed out books to kids during Monday's Memorial Day parade.
Holt's township supervisor said they collected over 4,000 books to hand out during the parade and is happy to promote education in the community.
"I mean they sit in people's basement, they're sold at garage sales, nobody wants to buy them. If we give them out to a child and he or she spends a few minutes reading that book, it's a win-win for everybody," John Hayhoe said.
The books were donated after a Facebook post and visiting the local library. Hayhoe says some people were donating books by the box.
"The next day three people contacted me 'Mr. Hayhoe, I have these boxes of books, will you take these?' Sure. I'll come over and pick them up. 'Mr. Hayhoe, I got 100 books leftover do you want them?' Yes, I'll take the books," he said.
Books were sorted by grade level and handed out by Holt's superintendent, Dr. David Hornak, Hayhoe, and volunteers. Avery Chase passed some out in both Dimondale's and Holt's parade.
"We're promoting education and reading over the summer. We're getting kids interested in literature and just reading and going on their own and learning on their own," Chase explained. "It's especially important because some families may not always have enough money to have their own personal libraries and they need stuff like this to help them get books and learn on their own."
Both said they were just happy to promote education while remembering our heroes on Memorial Day.
"Some of these kids don't have one book in their house. So this is the first book they have ever owned. So it's like wow, somebody gave me a book. Maybe that will develop of our leaders in the future," Hayhoe added.
This is the second year in a row that books have been passed out during Holt's parade. The parade ended with a memorial ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Gardens.
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