Bikes For Books

Bikes For Books is a reading program developed by a member of a Masonic Lodge in Arizona. It encourages children to develop their reading skills by increasing the number of books they read. Every time a student reads a new book his or her name is put into a drawing for a new bicycle. One boy and one girl from each grade level in Milford elementary schools received a new bike. The Milford Masons are the first lodge to start the Bikes For Books program in New Hampshire.

Members of the Benevolent Lodge and school administration with bicycle winners.

Back row, from left to right: Artie Dunham, Superintendent Bob Suprenant, Heron Pond principal Peter Bonaccorsi, Dan O’Donnell, Tom Welman, Scot Armstrong. Front row, from left to right: Bailey White, Zach Bishop, Samantha Sherman, Duncan Russell, Victoria Valliere, Joey Quirbach, Erin Tyrrell, Kurt Thibault.

Ten students from the Jacques Memorial and Heron Pond Elementary schools were the proud recipients of brand new bicycles and helmets as a result of participating in the Bikes For Books program, which was sponsored by Benevolent Lodge #7.

Students in the schools read a total of 1,465 books during the two-month program. The bikes, helmets and a brief safety program were presented to the students during a recent school assembly.

Benevolent Lodge #7 has existed in the area since the 1700s.

The Masons are the largest fraternal organization in the world. Their charitable activities contribute approximately $3,000,000 a day to causes such as the Shriner's Medical Hospitals for Children, support of medical research, local scholarships and educational causes, programs for child identification and combating drug abuse, the Scottish Rite Learning Centers and local charities such as the Learning Center in Nashua, which is a free educational service provided for children with dyslexia.
 

Bikes For Books Photo Gallery