Half Price Books Donation To VA Hospital

My friend Cyril Miller (my partner in Veterans And Friends of Puget Sound) talked to Half Price Books in Tukwila about donating books to the VA Hospital in Seattle. They agreed that they could give several boxes if we would pick them up and drop them off.

At the Coffee Cart

At the Spinal Cord Unit waiting area

In the Community Living Center

Now, casual donations of small amounts of books to the hospital is no problem, but since these were a couple hundred books, I wanted to be sure that we weren't causing a problem. I contacted the director of Volunteer Services, who also manages donations, and confirmed a few basic rules. We picked up a car load, but I waited til this morning to deliver them because I wanted to get in early and avoid parking problems.
The books were very popular. I took a box to the coffee cart in the basement and started talking with the volunteers there; they offered the use of their supply trolly to move the rest. Here's a picture of two volunteers.
I don't take pictures of patients or staff, because of privacy, but the coffee cart volunteers were o.k. with posing.
There are two main book carts in the building lobbies. While I was stocking one, someone from the Spinal Cord Unit asked if they could have some for their waiting area (there are a great many waiting areas through out the hospitals, in the various clinics). I made a little display on the table there.
I then went on the the Community Living Center, where they have shelves.
When I returned, I saw lots of people carrying books. One patient in a wheelchair had four in his lap; he seemed very pleased. As one of the guys at the coffee cart said, they get more than 5,000 people a day going through the building, and many of them would like a little reading material for while they are waiting.
I stopped by Half-Priced on the way home to show them these pictures. They did a good thing and were happy to see the result. Everyone wins!