By Mary Grace Morrison

I’ve been a Girl Scout since I was 6 and so it was only natural that I wanted to earn the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve: the Girl Scout Gold Award.

I was a sick kid a lot of my life, and one of my great escapes from pain and from feeling rotten was reading. Whether I curled up in bed with a good book, or my parents sat by my bedside and read to me – for those moments I felt better as my mind went on great adventures.

The Atlanta Ronald McDonald House is an amazing place full of resources for families with kids like me.  There are game rooms, craft rooms, amazing play spaces and kitchens with home cooked meals. I decided I wanted to give them a library as children often travel from far-away places and cannot bring everything they need with them.

Did you know that children growing up in a home with at least 20 books get three years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parent’s education, occupation or class? Books are critical to development and success in life and can also be a great escape – like they were for me. Books let you travel without moving your feet; they are dreams you hold in your hands!

For my project, Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader, I held different fundraising activities and solicited book donations and was able to collect more than 200 books for the two Atlanta Ronald McDonald Houses. They are now overflowing with books! As Dr. Seuss says, “You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book!”