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Hester J Hodgdon Libraries for All

Leveraging the power of education and literacy to enhance community vitality.

Our New Year Update is here – Reflecting on the past and anticipating the future

 

Wishing you Peace and Prosperity and Opportunities to express your Passions in 2024.

The clock is ticking to submit year end donations! Help us enter the New Year with funding to make a difference in the lives of so many students!! Please consider making a year end donation to propel our programs into 2024. For tax purposes, all donations must be postmarked on or before December 31st and all online donations must be submitted before midnight on the 31st.

Highlights from 2023:

Looking ahead to the New Year… a sneak peak at happenings in 2024

  • Jane and Jill will travel to Nicaragua in January in the company of great friends and volunteers to bring a myriad of new books, share time with our new staff and support the VOSH Eye care project for its 20th year.
  • We will also check in on the progress of programs initiated in November.
  • The RACHEL digital library project will expand to serve more students.
  • More 3D printing courses will be offered to local students.
  • The mobile project will expand service to older students as well as preschool and kinder/first grade.
  • Several service groups will return! VOSH eye doctors in January and Council Tree Church in July. We cannot wait to welcome everyone back!

In 2024, we will continue to grow and cultivate the programs that you have come to know so well. We have plans to expand our mobile project yet again and begin to offer an afternoon mobile project for the older students. Jane and company will be bringing down a healthy collection of chapter books in January to begin this critical expansion. Please join us in our efforts to expand our reach and place books in the hands of as many children as possible!


Your gift may be eligible for a corporate match! Thousands of companies offer employee matching programs that allow you to double your donation. Click here to see if your employer has a match or ask your employer directly!
 

Introducing Susana Fields – the volunteer behind our new summer mobile project

Susana with Norman and a group of students at one of the mobile project schools
We would like to formally introduce volunteer and advisory board member, Susana Field. Susana joined as a mobile project volunteer last year and has been going out to visit schools with library staff once a week! She met with Jane in November to discuss a few key areas that were doing well and to suggest a few changes to expand our reach.

Susana’s most important finding came this fall when the mobile project was shutting down for the Nicaraguan “summer vacation”. Traditionally, our staff have collected the mobile project books at the end of the school year which allows them to do inventory, book repairs, and refresh the collections while students are on break. Susana pointed out that summer break may be the time students need access to books the most.

With Susana’s intuitive observation, Edwin’s excellent coordination skills, and the excitement from local teachers, we are thrilled to offer a small pilot summer mobile project!

The summer mobile project has begun visiting 10 schools which will allow students to continue to have access to books throughout their vacation. We will also have a story hour with an accompanying craft project to encourage students to read and to provide enrichment opportunities for the children while school is not in session.
 
Summer mobile project activities
Norman helps students pick out books to take home.

Tax Free Way to Donate to HJH Using RMD (Required Minimum Distribution Money):


If you are 73 or older and taking a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your IRA, you are able to avoid taxes by donating some of this distribution.

Donating some of your RMD money to the HJH Foundation benefits you and the Foundation! Not only will you see tax advantages by donating to a 501C3 organization, but you will also ensure we are able to continue our projects in Nicaragua that provide print and digital resources, programs to strengthen local schools, and technological, educational, and trade learning opportunities.

For more information on the process of how to donate a portion of your RMD money, consult with the institution that manages your IRA account, and contact us to get the Foundation information needed by your IRA provider.
 

A note from Jane:


It is just a few days until the end of 2023. I am on the couch in our rental condo in Bonita Springs, Florida watching dawn arrive over the wetland marsh. It is my last morning here before flying back to Colorado to prepare for year end and the upcoming trip to Nicaragua.

It is a cloudy, daybreak moment and I am feeling chilly. I am thinking heavy thoughts of the losses and struggles that are now behind us in 2023. As the sky lightens, I look just above me and see the warm comforter and as I snuggle in I realize all I need is often right at hand if I’m alert and ready to receive what is just within reach. Sometimes before the need is known, the answer has appeared.  

I know 2024 will not be without its own challenges for all of us but having purpose beyond ourselves and the optimism and passion we need to continue on will serve us well. I invite you to continue this journey with us. Our ongoing commitment is both instrumental and essential to the HJH Foundation’s vision and the rewarding outcomes we need.

I would like to close 2023 with an Irish Blessing for 2024:

“May love and laughter light your days and warm your heart and home,
May good and faithful friends be yours wherever you roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures
May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.”

 
With deep and heartfelt appreciation for you all,

Jane

We are registered as Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All.  Please donate today with the PayPal or JustGiving buttons above OR by check made payable to:

HJH Programs
1716 Del Norte Ave.
Loveland, CO 80538
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Hester J. Hogdon Libraries for All Program · 1716 Del Norte Ave · Loveland, CO 80538-3638 · USA