“It was a win-win for all!” is how Tammy Keller, a reading specialist at Donegan ES, described the visit of Moravian University students to the school Sept. 21 as part of the Cops ‘n’ Kids Children’s Literacy Program of the Lehigh Valley.

The visit was in celebration of Moravian’s 2022 Heritage Day.

“The college students made a profound, positive influence on our young, impressionable students,” Keller said. “Additionally, the college students developed social and emotional skills such as patience and empathy as they worked with the primary students.”

Keller said the Moravian students helped to instill a love of reading in Donegan’s kindergarten, first and second grade students. “They read a story aloud, completed an activity with the students, allowed them to choose a book to take home, and most importantly, they took the time to listen and learn about each individual student.”

“All of the books that were read by the Moravian volunteers had a theme of being kind and making the world a better place,” Beverly Bradley, president of Cops ‘n’ Kids Literacy Program, said of the Donegan visit. “It was a lovely and meaningful day for all.”

Donegan is one of the many schools touched by the outreach of Cops ‘n’ Kids through the years, and Moravian has long played a pivotal role in fulfilling the mission of Cops ‘n’ Kids, which is “Connecting kids and community through literacy.”

Bradley said the Cops ‘n’ Kids Reading Room opened in 2006, and “Moravian has partnered with us since we began visiting schools in the community.”

According to Bradley, Cops ‘n’ Kids has so far distributed 1,154,045 free books and organized and/or collaborated with countless community partners in hundreds of community events. “These community events have included visits to our local elementary schools and other child-centered organizations, with literally thousands of students from our middle schools, our high schools, and our colleges volunteering.”

“These beautiful young people read to the little ones, autograph free books that Cops ‘n’ Kids provides, lead the children in a meaningful craft, and, most importantly, spend some quality time with the students in the individual classrooms, answering questions and telling them how important it is to read and to be the best they can be,” Bradley said.

“My life is better because I have had the opportunity to witness what this means to both those little ones on the receiving end and to those on the giving end. Both walk away feeling a sense of community,” Bradley said.

“The children in the schools get to meet some of our best and brightest and to see an outpouring of goodwill on the part of the volunteers. Often, the visiting volunteers have conducted book drives that have resulted in the books that are presented to the children in the schools during these visits. The volunteers get a better sense of their responsibility to the children of our community, often commenting that the experience was one of the best they have ever had.”

“One of the colleges with which we have collaborated almost since we began is Moravian – once Moravian College and now Moravian University. This began when we were contacted by former Moravian men’s basketball coach Jim Walker,” Bradley said.

Bradley said Walker wanted his young players to understand what it means to make a difference in this community, and this aligned perfectly with the vision of Cops ‘n’ Kids.

“This was a match made in heaven that has resulted in absolute magic over the years.”

Bradley said starting with Coach Walker’s team, the Moravian students have come to the aid of Cops ‘n’ Kids year after year by moving, sorting and labeling books, painting Cops ‘n’ Kids book storage area, cleaning Cops ‘n’ Kids Reading Room and storage area, visiting schools again and again, and doing whatever task needed to be done to facilitate the Cops ‘n’ Kids program.

Bradley said they do it all with smiles and with the final question, “What’s next?” Bradley said, “That simple question told us that they loved knowing that what we were asking of them would make a difference in the lives of the children in our community, and I love them all for appreciating what we were trying to accomplish and wanting to be part of this lovely journey.”

Bradley recalled Moravian students visited Donegan as part of Cops ‘n’ Kids on Sept. 21 in celebration of Moravian’s 2022 Heritage Day. “We had 28 Moravian women’s lacrosse players and women’s basketball players, along with their coaches, participate in the day’s activities.”

Bradley said they visited the individual classrooms – Pre-K, kindergarten, and first and second grades. “They introduced themselves and encouraged a discussion and questions about who they were and what they did at Moravian and why they came to spend time with them.”

They then read a book selected by their teachers about being kind and thoughtful and did a related craft project in which they traced and colored their little hands to put on a poster that made a statement about the “power” of their hands to change the future. They then helped the little ones select a new book to keep – from Cops ‘n’ Kids – and to autograph the book to commemorate the day’s visit. While they were autographing the books, the little ones decorated a bookmark, again, to commemorate the day.

“All of the Moravian coaches with whom we have worked have impressed me with their understanding of the value of these experiences for the young people they coach and mentor,” Bradley said.

“Current Athletic Director Mary Beth Spirk and I should have a hotline – we have coordinated so many worthwhile adventures for her student athletes over the years,” Bradley said.

“We want our young adults and our little ones in our schools to know that their community cares and that their community is counting on them to care. Fortunately, folks like Jim Walker and Mary Beth Spirk have partnered with us to better accomplish this goal of “connecting kids and community through literacy.”

Spirk, athletic director, women’s basketball coach and associate professor at Moravian, shares Bradley’s enthusiasm for the partnership.

“The connection Moravian University, the Athletic Department and specifically the men’s and women’s basketball teams have with Cops ‘n’ Kids and specifically Bev Bradley is a special relationship,” Spirk said.

“The ability of our university athletes to give back to the young people of our community is very important in what we try to instill and teach here at Moravian,” Spirk said. “I have always believed it is better to give than receive. What we have seen is that as we give to our community through Bev and the Cops ‘n’ Kids program is that we receive as much if not more from the young people in return.”

“We are proud to continue this relationship every year and we are grateful to give back in our community in Bethlehem.”

And schools such as Donegan are delighted to be part of the program.

“Reading is the key that unlocks the door to lifelong learning, and Donegan was beyond grateful and fortunate to partner with Moravian University and Cops ‘n’ Kids,” Keller said.

“I definitely observed many smiles throughout the day. We look forward to more collaborative events in the future,” Keller said. “It was a fantastic event enjoyed by all.”

Perhaps Bradley summed it up best with the words, “How lucky we are to live in this beautiful city with so many beautiful people.”

“Thank you, Moravian – and thank you to all who have joined us at Cops ‘n’ Kids!”

For more information on Cops ‘n’ Kids visit http://www.copsnkidslv.org.