On May 22, Keck Medicine of USC employees made a very special delivery to students of Pasadena Rosebud Academy, a transitional kindergarten-8th grade school that was destroyed in the recent Eaton fire and is being temporarily housed at a nearby school.
Keck Medicine staff presented the school’s founder and executive director, Shawn Brown, with a $20,000 Keck Medicine community benefit grant for rebuilding efforts as well as a portion of more than 5,000 books earmarked for the school collected during a recent employee-led book drive to replace those lost in the fire. The staff will deliver the rest of the books when the school has a permanent home.
“We are deeply grateful for these generous gifts during such a critical time,” said Brown. “They will help us reignite our students’ imaginations and lifelong love for learning.”
The outreach is part of Keck Medicine’s commitment to giving back to those in need in the community. “We are so happy to be able to help get the school rebuilt and ensure that its classrooms are full of books,” said Shannon Bradley, chief health equity, inclusion and community officer of Keck Medicine.
The book donation drive was the dual brainchild of Michelle Sullivan, PT, DPT, associate administrator of ancillary services at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, and Dustin Baker, senior learning and development specialist for the Keck Medicine human resources department.
When Sullivan learned of the school’s plight, she felt compelled to do something. Her three children had attended Pasadena Rosebud Academy, and her daughter was an avid reader who spent many happy hours reading in the classroom.
“I felt one of the most impactful ways to help the school was through providing books,” said Sullivan. “Books educate our children and education is the key to success.”
Sullivan and Baker began collecting new and gently used books from the Keck Medicine community, and the response was immediate. A few dozen books turned into a few hundred, which turned into a few thousand.
To collect even more books, Baker turned to his local church. The church had gathered children’s books for local fire victims and was only too happy to donate them to the Keck Medicine book drive.
A total of 7,000 books were collected due to Michelle and Dustin’s efforts. The remaining 2,000 books will be donated to a second local school affected by the fires, St. Elizabeth Parish School, in the fall.
Prior to the Pasadena Rosebud Academy visit, Keck Medicine employees from across the health system gathered together several times to help sort and organize the books.
“Collecting and organizing 7,000 books has been a labor of love,” said Baker. “Our donation will help generations of kids at these schools, and its proof of what people can do when we come together for a good cause.”
— Alison Rainey