On Thursday, May 15th, Nana’s Books Foundation Board Member Colleen Kapklein and her daughter Casey Kapklein will commence the distribution of 1,700 grade-appropriate books to Freeville Elementary School and Dryden Central Elementary School students. The whole school meeting will be held at Freeville Elementary at 8:55 am, followed by a visit and book distribution at Dryden Central. On Friday, May 16th at 8:55 am, the Kapkleins will attend Cassavant’s morning meeting for further distribution.
Nana’s Books Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing grade-appropriate literature on Alzheimer's, dementia, and other disabilities to public libraries and students in Title I schools. Each student will receive at least one grade-appropriate book with a set of books for each of the 37 classrooms and three school libraries. Peg Downey, a Freeville Summer resident, has sponsored this initiative for the three Tompkins County schools. These institutions are the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Title I schools across 11 states and Washington, DC, to receive these donations.
Nana’s Books Foundation was established in 2020 to honor career librarian Nancy Dulniak, who passed away from Early Onset Alzheimer’s in 2021. Colleen Kapklein is the niece of Nancy Dulniak and daughter of Peg Downey. Casey Kapklein, a local resident and Binghamton graduate, is the grandniece of Nancy Dulniak and granddaughter of Peg Downey.