This past week, club members Emmalyn Garrett and Leslie Zukor, as well as several others, settled on a service project for the Reed College Freethinkers. Secular Student Alliance Campus Organizer, Lisa Swinehart, thought a service project would both help the community and dispel the negative attitude of some at Reed toward the Freethinkers. Leslie Zukor had wanted to combine both service and freethought, and while studying for a Latin midterm, an idea hit her. There was an often-empty box outside of the bookstore marked Books to Prisoners.
Only too aware of faith-based prison ministries and how the Bush administration promotes religious-based addiction recovery programs, Zukor had an epiphany. “Why don’t we collect freethought books for prisoners?” Zukor thought, and there was agreement from the other club members. Thus, Leslie is exploring several options and writing to Books to Prisoners organizations to see if they are receptive to the idea. The club hopes the service project will be successful.
