• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Posts from Community / Eagle Scout donates over 7,000 books to central city kids in honor of grandfather

Eagle Scout donates over 7,000 books to central city kids in honor of grandfather

April 8, 2013 by Next Door Foundation Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Matt Oswald, a Boy Scout residing in Lakeville, Minnesota decided to organize a children’s book drive for the Next Door Foundation for his Eagle Scout project. Matt is the grandson of James Oswald, a longtime resident of Wauwatosa, who was an active donor and volunteer with the Next Door Foundation for over 25 years until he passed away last summer.

Jim served on the Next Door Planned Giving Council and was a member of the Planned Giving Society. Many years ago, Jim stated, “Next Door Foundation shares my belief that education is the key to success in any important endeavor.” His strong belief in the importance of education was a major influence on both his children and grandchildren.

Because Books for Kids was an important part of Matt’s grandfather’s visits to Next Door Foundation, Matt decided that holding a book drive to benefit this organization would be a great way to honor his grandfather while helping hundreds of children in the community. The main focus of the project was to collect gently used or new children’s books for age’s birth-5 years to support the need for all children to have quality books in their homes. Matt not only organized the advertising, collection, sorting, and counting of the books, he also organized the shipment of the 5,000 gently used and new children’s books to Next Door Foundation from Minnesota.

Since 1990 when the Books for Kids program began, many Boy Scouts have chosen Books for Kids for their project. What makes this project different and unique is this future Eagle Scout lives hundreds of miles away, residing in Lakeville, Minnesota. In addition to this, Matt expanded his project beyond his local community to include a local Boy Scout Troop in Wauwatosa, WI.

Matt sought the cooperation of the Lakeville and Wauwatosa school districts and organized collection sites at each elementary, middle school and high school. Matt also reached out to the Three Harbors Boy Scout Council in Milwaukee and was put in touch with Boy Scout Troop 28 sponsored by St. Bernard’s Parish in Wauwatosa. The boy scouts of Troop 28 were more than willing to help with this project and were invaluable in making the book collection happen in Wauwatosa.

The shipment of books arrived Friday, March 15, 2013. Matt and his father drove from Minnesota for the purpose of delivering the books collected from the Wauwatosa troop on the following Monday. The grand total of children’s books collected was 7,025. Each book will be given to children throughout the City of Milwaukee who do not have books to call their own.

Next Door Foundation is thankful to Matt Oswald for his hard work in honor of his Grandfather, James Oswald.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Posts from Community

Avatar

About Next Door Foundation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How residents 65 and older can register for a coronavirus vaccine

Vaccines will be available for those 65 and older as part of Phase 1B of the distribution plan.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in