Rachel Thibault set her sights last summer on collecting at least 500 books that could be donated to local nonprofit organizations.

She is a member of Prior Lake Junior Optimists, who along with other local students, attended the international organization’s convention in July. It was there that clubs were challenged to create a children’s literacy project on the local level, according to Dan Steger, an advisor for the JO group.

Thibault and other JO board officers took on the challenge and agreed upon a two-prong approach to fulfilling the challenge. Reading groups were initiated at both Five Hawks and Jeffers Pond elementary schools through which 10 to 15 JO members went into classrooms to read to and visit with students. A book drive was also initiated with a goal to collect 500 books for the Northside Child Development Center run by Catholic Charities, one of the organizations supported by Junior Optimists.

“Partnering with a handful of nonprofits is a key part of our service philosophy,” Steger said. “It lets our members dive deep into the work of an organization, understanding its mission and participating in it, rather than just showing up to do volunteering events.”

Thibault, a junior at Prior Lake High School, headed up the book drive and recruited six others who helped secure collection box locations at various places throughout the city.

At the conclusion of the drive several weeks ago, a total of 2,500 books had been collected and delivered to Thibault’s home where they were sorted for age appropriateness by various groups. While it greatly exceeded expectations, the total was far above the 500 Northside was able to accept. Of the remaining 2,000 books that had been collected, 1,000 were delivered to the Toy Corner in Prior Lake and the remaining 1,000 books reserved for HeadStart.

Steger said that the local book drive was one example of how young people who are part of Junior Optimists gain hands-on leadership experience.