Sometimes to do big things, all you have to do is ask. That’s what Wede Gibson, a parishioner of St. Timothy Parish in Chantilly, did in May, when she sent an email to Sister Bernadette McManigal, diocesan superintendent of Schools, asking for donations of used textbooks.

Originally from West Africa, Gibson attended St. Teresa’s Convent School in Monrovia, Liberia, until she graduated high school. Following that, she spent four years working as the school’s math teacher and dean of students while her country was in the midst of a civil war. In 1996, she immigrated to the United States to escape the war. Now, 16 years later, she hopes to send used textbooks to the school to help them stay afloat.

“The civil war has ended and I try to get involved with the rebuilding of Liberia by sending used textbooks, library books, computers and school supplies to Liberia,” she wrote in her email to Sister Bernadette.

“I would like to kindly ask for used and discarded textbooks (religious ed, math, science, language arts, world history, world geography) from schools in the Diocese of Arlington for this worthy cause.”

The response was almost immediate. The word got out to local schools, which were all in the process of closing for the summer. One by one, the offers began to come in: a case of history books from one school, library books from another, lesson planning workbooks from yet another. In the weeks that followed, Gibson would drive to diocesan schools and local public schools with her friend and fellow St. Teresa’s alumna Brenda Bedell. Together, they loaded box after box of textbooks into Bedell’s minivan. By the end of June, the women had collected more than 600 boxes.  Read more>>