A couple of weeks ago, our former intern, Lexi, dropped a line to let us know how widespread the impact of the Thunder really is.
In April, the Rolling Thunder Book Bus visited The Tapestry Project, an urban revitalization program that seeks to bring together and lift up a community in south Oklahoma City. The program relies on community volunteers and donations (their main partner is SandRidge Energy, also one of the Thunder’s Founding Parners), so they asked the Thunder to stop by one of their events. Kids from around the neighborhood gathered to choose a book, and volunteers – including some alumnae of the Pi Beta Phi sorority – helped coordinate the event, which also included a visit from Rumble.
It was one of the many visits that our Book Bus coordinator, Debbie, goes on, and she’d hardly given it a second thought – until Lexi emailed.
Lexi, who goes to school in Washington state, wrote from the Pi Beta Phi convention in Orlando, saying:
During the (banquet), the Oklahoma City, OK Alumnae Club was announced as the premier alumnae club in all of the United States and Canada. During the presentation of their award, members of Grand Council of Pi Beta Phi commended the OKC alum club for their literacy efforts, including those with the Thunder and the Book Bus. Over 1,000 people were present to witness and hear this great news involving OKC and the Thunder.
After seeing that email, I stopped by Debbie’s part of the office to ask for the back story; it took her about a minute, but she knew every detail of the event and shared how excited the kids were to come through the bus, as well as how helpful the Pi Beta Phi volunteers were in helping manage the crowds of children.
Seems you never know how far the Thunder’s community efforts might reach …
- Karina Henderson
