Books and Kindness: Event honoring teen’s legacy offers free books, health screenings

Reading to children has proven to have many long-term benefits for adolescents, including building a stronger relationship between a parent and child, achieving future academic success, developing better communication skills and instilling the importance of reading at an early age.

The Dr. Paulette P. Harris Literacy Center will hold its annual Books for Shay event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, at the Hub for Community Innovation at 631 Chaffee Ave.

RISE Augusta, a nonprofit organization housed in the Hub which concentrates on the potential of all children to rise above adversity and achieve in life, is a key partner in the event.

Books for Shay is sponsored by the family of Shaylin Foster, a 17-year-old student from Grovetown High School who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2018. It is one of several annual efforts of Smile for Shay, a nonprofit organization created by the Foster family which is responsible for multiple community acts of kindness each year. 

During the event, approximately 4,000 free books will be given out to local students. There will also be free health screenings for both children and adults, face painting, storytelling and more, said Betsy VanDeusen, PhD, director of the Dr. Paulette P. Harris Literacy Center at Augusta University.

“This is the first year that we are having Books for Shay at the Hub,” VanDeusen said, explaining in previous years the event was held at area elementary schools.  “It is a wonderful event where children can take home up to 10 free books. Last year, we had about 4,000 books donated. Also, much like other Hub events, we have other fun activities that the kids can participate in. We also offer free health screenings for both children and adults.”

The free health screenings include vision and hearing tests, height and weight evaluations, as well as skin and cardiorespiratory checks led by physicians and medical students from AU’s Medical College of Georgia, VanDeusen said.

“We call it the MCG Literacy Initiative,” VanDeusen said. “They line up the doctors and all the residents for the health screenings, so there’s always a doctor overseeing the screenings, and they offer referrals if there is additional support they may need.”

Chris and Chasity Foster created Books for Shay to honor their daughter’s name and legacy through ongoing acts of kindness each year.

“We always told Shaylin that ‘readers are leaders,’ and she was a voracious reader that always read way above her grade level, so we knew this was a mission that would be important to her,” the Fosters stated on the Smile for Shay website. “This is how Books for Shay started. It has grown steadily over the years, and we are incredibly excited to be hosting another event.”

Parents will also receive reading and writing resources to help their children at home as well as information about mental health education. There will also be food, fun exercise opportunities, story walks and lots of community volunteers to make the event interactive and engaging, VanDeusen said.

The Hub’s other nonprofit organizations will also be participating in the event, including Augusta Locally Grown and Harrisburg Family Health, she said.

“Shaylin’s two passions were books and kindness, so that is the theme that runs through this event,” VanDeusen said. “Her parents, Chris and Chasity, are amazing, and they do all the legwork as far as getting books. And so there’s a huge book fair that will happen here at the Hub because of their kindness.”