Stillborn child honored
A woman who does not have children is passing out books to children in three states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas
Marianne Matthes of Dallas is delivering these books in memory of her daughter who was stillborn in 2012.
Her travels include coming to Sarver where her parents in law, Jim and Ramona Matthes, live.
They were busy passing out books Monday to the Butler County Children's Center HeadStart program.
The idea of this national book drive occurred on Sept. 13, 2012, when Marianne Matthes was at a low point in her life. That was the day she and her husband, Lance, were expected to have her baby. They planned to name their baby Elizabeth.
But on July 25, 2012, she went into labor. To the astonishment of everyone Elizabeth was stillborn.
“The grief over loosing a child is raw and painful,” she said.
On the day that Elizabeth was supposed to have been born, Marianne Matthes was lying on floor mourning the loss of her daughter when “divine inspiration struck,” she said.
Out of no where she got the idea to start a charity in Elizabeth's honor. She would collect new and used children's books and on what should have been her daughter's first birthday she would deliver the books to children who need them.
“The idea came to me when I was at my lowest,” Matthes said.
Not knowing where to start, she went to the Internet and searched for answers she needed to kick start her charity.
“I Googled how to start a charity,” Marianne Matthes said. “I had to go through the IRS to get approval.”
After filling out a lengthy application and getting approval, she started collecting books.“I feel like she wants this,” Marianne Matthes said of her expected daughter.She told her family and her friends about Elizabeth's Book Drive, and the support was overwhelming. She had donations from her neighbors, friends and elementary schools.Word even got to author Dean Kootz, who donated multiple copies of his children's series, and to country singer Dolly Parton whose foundation also donated books.“I have a bedroom filled with books,” Marianne Matthes said.She has exceeded her 1,000 book goal.“The outpouring of support has been amazing,” Marianne Matthes said. She said her father-in-law has been a huge help with collecting books.Jim and Ramona Matthes have been collecting books in the memory of Elizabeth, who would have been their first grandchild.They collected about 6,000 books.“He's done most of the work,” Ramona Matthes said.Along with donations from organizations throughout the Pittsburgh area, Jim Matthes has advertisements on the Internet. He even has picked up books himself.“In the beginning we went to book drives and bought them,” Jim Matthes said.But when people started donating, the couple's worries went from collecting books to storing them.“It is an on going thing, we just got a storage place,” he said.The couple has the books stored in their basement until they are donated.“I didn't imagine that kind of response,” Ramona Matthes said. “I'm really happy.”In all, Elizabeth's Book Drive have collected more than 10,000 books which have been distributing to children in Dallas; Mansfield, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh, and Butler.The Matthes were in Butler on Monday dropping off books to the Children's Center.The Children's Center has a program called Books for Kids that gives books to families who cannot afford to buy children's books.Alice Nunes, CEO of the Children's Center, said, “We give away books to children three times a year.”“We survive off donation,” Nunes said. “It use to be in our budget, but due to cuts in government funding it is not.”Talking about children getting books, Nunes said, “It is amazing how exciting it is for them to take the books home. The kids love picking out their own books.”Marianne Matthes started delivering the books to children on July 25 and finished Monday.She will “100 percent continue” with her mission in the future.Marianne Matthes also pointed out that is not cheap to run a charity. While many people donate books, they also can donate money to keep the charity running.Elizabeth's Book Drive has a webpage that has access to donations and provides links to Facebook and twitter accounts that keep people up to date with where their books are going. The webpage is at www.elizabethsbookdrive.com.Marianne Matthes said, “My new goal is to have an employee and a book mobile. I am looking at the big picture.“Having a purpose is helping me through. Talking to the children takes me away from my own problems and gets me focused on them.”
