The Press Club of Southwest Florida was pleased to donate more than 500 children’s books titled My Florida Life: A Collection of Children’s Writing to Grace Place for Children & Families this past week.
The book was published by the press club in 2005 in memory of the club’s founder, Terry Miller, who was passionate about encouraging young people to write. The year after Terry’s death, the press club (then known as the Naples Press Club) partnered with local schools to invite students from grades 3 through 8 to write a poem, short story, or essay about their life in Florida.
A press club committee reviewed hundreds of submissions and chose 100 writings to include in the book.
The book made its debut at a celebration at the main Collier County Library, where all 100 young authors, their teachers, and their families received a copy of the book.
When the press club recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, it featured the book and some of its authors – now successful journalists, videographers, and professional communicators.
But the club still had a few boxes of the book it wanted to share with children in the community. So press club President Julie Pedretti reached out to Grace Place for Children & Families, which was thrilled to be the recipient of the remaining books to be distributed to children and families in Southwest Florida.
Julie Pedretti, Diane Ponton, Kim Buehler
In the featured photo, Julie is smiling along with recipients Diane Ponton, Chief Learning Officer, and Kim Buehler, Development Operations Manager.
As Julie says, “Press club members are honored to be part of a small effort to improve literacy in Collier County by sharing copies of this collection of children’s writing.”