NORFOLK, Va. — Three Norfolk women are living proof that epic tales often have modest beginnings.
"It started really small (...) and then all of a sudden, it got bigger," explains Tammy Adelman.
Adelman, Rivers Thompson, and Doris Clevenger lead yearly book drives in their senior community, Talbot on Granby. They collected a couple dozen books in their first effort years ago. This year, the ladies collected about 1,800 books. Many of the donations came from the personal collections of their fellow residents.
"Tammy would take those books to the book exchange, sell them, and with those proceeds, bought books for children," Clevenger says. "There was a nice big circle," she adds.
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The trio of former educators donated the books to public schools in Norfolk. Some of the recipients include students at Lindenwood, James Monroe and Ocean View Elementary, to name a few.
"We picked up the Southside Boys and Girls Club over in Campostella," Thompson adds. "They were just tickled to death."
It's not just the kids who love this project. The ladies say the teachers were excited.
"The teachers were so excited. '[They said] oh my god, somebody's thinking of us, and they know we need things.' And we loved giving them to the teachers," said Adelman.
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Of course, the ladies get something out of it, too. Doris Clevenger says it best: "At our age, it's hard to help people. We've been helping all our lives as wives and mothers, and it's nice to be able to help again."
For their work, I surprised them with a News 3 Everyday Hero award. The honor comes with a $300 Visa gift card from our community partners at Southern Bank. The ladies say that money will be used for a future book drive.
"I guess there'll be a next year after all. Thank you so much," Adelman beamed.
