'It's Beautiful' | Maryland Book Bank Unveils Newly Renovated Van
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Maryland Book Bank unveiled its newly renovated van Thursday.
You may remember, back in July, the van was stolen, vandalized and then returned.
"People drove all over the place looking for it and we called the police and filed a report and they came back and said it's gone," a Maryland Book Bank employee said.
It was a big hit to the non-profit that relied heavily on the van to make deliveries.
"We're always using it to bring mail to the post office, to pick up books from people, to drop off books to schools."
The van was returned spray-painted, with a window smashed, and torn out pages from a book about Vincent Van Gogh.
"I think it was someone with an artistic sense of humor."
It was the Maryland Book Bank, however, that would get the last laugh after the community stepped up to raise money.
"We had the community rally. We raised $8,000 in two days to start replacing the van and we had companies come out and say we'd like to help."
Help is exactly what the Maryland Book Bank received. The van now has new tires, locks, ignition, and a security system.
"I think it's beautiful, I'm really thankful for what they did,"
Now the van can get back to doing what it was designed to do- deliver books to a community that needs them.
"The average number of books for a middle-income child is 54, in the city, it's between zero to two. So what we try to do is bridge that gap, leveling the playing field if you well and giving kids a leg up."
As if giving the van a facelift wasn't enough when they dropped it off yesterday it was filled with books.
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