Storm ruins thousands of Lake Bluff nonprofit's books meant for kids
LAKE BLUFF, Ill. (CBS) – About 300,000 kids count on one nonprofit in the northern suburbs for new books every year.
But thousands of books are going to waste because they were ruined after a big storm on Tuesday night. CBS 2's Noel Brennan had the story from Lake Bluff.
It may feel wrong to judge a book by its cover, but it's necessary work for Ryley Horner at Bernie's Book Bank.
"These are our bad pile of wet [books], and I've got a small pile of good," she said as she sorted through them.
The nonprofit on the North Shore connects kids in need with books all over the Chicago area, but tens of thousands of books destined for schools and daycares will end up in the dumpster.
"Probably closer to 50 to 75,000," said Darrin Utynek, the nonprofit's CEO.
Utynek is dealing with an unexpected chapter in the nonprofit's story.
"Unfortunately, we had a weather-related event that took part of our roof and pushed it back during a rainstorm," he said.
On Tuesday night, water dripped from the roof to the boxes of books below.
"They've got warping. They've got water stains. They've got debris," he said.
Horner added, "Some of them are still kind of damp to the touch, so this one I can feel that it's still wet."
Entire racks of bilingual Spanish and English books were ruined.
"Unfortunately, those are the hardest for us to source and the most expensive," Utynek said.
The Book Bank is also closed to volunteers as the staff cleans up.
"Days that we miss with volunteers become critical because we can't make that time up," said Utynek.
Insurance will help with damage, but the community can help with donations.
"We can put a bag together of eight books for approximately $16," he added.
Not every book can be saved, but the group is still bound tightly to its mission.
"But it will be another chapter in our book at some point in time that we'll look back on fondly and say, 'This is how we got through it,'" Utynek said.
Despite the damage, Bernie's Book Bank will still manage to send out three truckloads every day to schools and early childhood programs throughout the Chicago area.
Bernie's Book Bank relies on the help of about 40,000 volunteers each yearo. They hope to welcome them back soon.
