This week concluded a local book drive that collected 2,235 children’s books for students at Kennedy Elementary.

The drive was organized by Nathan Hutchcraft to help continue the BackSnacks Brain Food program at the school. The program allows 40 children from low-income houses to fill their backpacks every Friday with food to eat over the weekend and a book that they get to keep.

To garner donations, Hutchcraft and other volunteers placed 2,000 grocery bags on porches around Lawrence asking people to fill them with books for children from kindergarten through fifth grade.

It was met with overwhelming support as the volunteers collected four car loads of books to keep the program going. The donated books will allow the students to continue taking home books for months to come.