12-Year-Old Girl Donates More Than 1,300 Books to Pediatric Patients at Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper University Health Care

Charlotte Olson decided before Christmas 2016 that she would like to do some kind of service project to help others. Inspired by the national Reach Out and Read program, Charlotte decided to collect books and donate them for hospitalized children at the Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper University Health Care. Charlotte’s goal was to collect 1,000 books. She started by telling friends and neighbors and placed a large box on her family’s front porch. She also contacted a few local businesses and asked them to place a donation box. Participating businesses included Cutting Times Salon in Berlin, Family Health Centers in Thorofare, Moozies Play Café in Turnersville, and Angels of God clothing closet in Pitman. Charlotte also spread the word of her book drive through her homeschooling co-op and by sharing on social media.

 

For her efforts, Charlotte initially received more than 2,000 books. Books that were not able to be used by the hospital due to their condition were donated to the local library or sold to raise funds to purchase additional new books. In total Charlotte collected 1,303 books and raised $200 from the sale of books.

Charlotte is working toward her community service award for National American Miss Pre-teen NJ 2017 in which she has participated for the past 2 years.

About Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper

As the only state-designated acute care children’s hospital in South Jersey , The Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper is committed to excellence in education, research, and high-quality, safe care for pediatric patients and their families. Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper provides exceptional pediatric primary care and comprehensive specialty care services for every patient, every day, in a patient- and family-centered environment. Services include:

• Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treats full-term and premature infants with medical and surgical problems related to premature birth, respiratory, metabolic or birth disorders.
• Only hospital-based pediatric surgery program in South Jersey.
• The only Pediatric Trauma Center in South Jersey, verified by the American College of Surgeons as meeting 229 rigorous standards for providing the most advanced life-saving measures for children in need of trauma care.
• Renowned Pediatric Emergency Department with fellowship-trained physicians, and distinct waiting areas and rooms specifically designed to meet the needs of infants and children.
• Academic medical center with the largest pediatric teaching program in South Jersey.