Peoples Bank, library donate books to give to families of newborns

Peoples Bank and Sioux Center Public Library donated
50 "First 100 Words" books to Promise Community
Health Center to give to families of newborn babies.
Pictured are (front, from left): Kari Ney, Promise
nurse; Ruth Hernandez, Promise medical assistant;
Becky Bilby, library director; David McAlpine of
Peoples; (back) Belinda Lassen, Promise midwife;
Dyla Bolkema of Peoples; Judy Dirkse of library;
and Lisa Dykstra and Michael Gallagher of Peoples.
 

SIOUX CENTER – Every family that has a baby with the help of one of Promise Community Health Center's midwives will receive a book.

Peoples Bank of Sioux Center and Sioux Center Public Library partnered on a project to donate “First 100 Words” – a book of 100 pictures with descriptive words to go with them – to Promise and Sioux Center Health to give to families of newborn babies.

Promise was supplied with 50 books to get the program started.

“We want to ensure that any new child born in Sioux Center has a book because we know that not every family has that,” said David McAlpine, account specialist at Peoples Bank.

Peoples Bank and Sioux Center
Public Library donated 50 "First
100 Words" books to Promise CHC.

Library director Becky Bilby said Peoples Bank representatives approached the library with the book project idea and wondered if they could partner together on it.

“We had always wanted to do something like this, but we don’t always have the funding to do it on our own,” she said.

Belinda Lassen, certified nurse midwife for Promise, said the book will be a wonderful item to give to mothers and families who receive their care at Promise and will be well-received by them.

“Books are timeless treasures and a gift that will be enjoyed over and over within a home,” she said. “We are thankful for the generosity of our donors in making a strong effort to see that our newborns and their families will receive their first book.”

McAlpine said the initial idea is to provide a supply of books to cover a year, but project will be reassessed and might become an ongoing endeavor.

“That’s certainly the hope,” he said.

Promise Community Health Center of Sioux Center is the only Federally Qualified Health Center serving the far northwest corner of Iowa. Promise provides medical, prenatal, dental, vision and behavioral health services. To learn more, visit www.promisechc.org and watch this video. To read more Promise news, visit promisechcnews.blogspot.com.