Toward the end of July, Allie and Erin flew out to New York.  We spent one playing and then loaded the Little Lit Lab to drive to Minnesota.  Our first stop was in Novi, Michigan where we connected with our good friends, Mary and Joe Drouillard.  Mary and Joe have been foster parents for many years and are amazing advocates for children.  They connected us to Orchards Children’s Services, an agency that seeks to provide shelter, sustenance, life- and educational skills and opportunities for children from birth to young adulthood.  One of their summer activities is a birthday party for children in foster care.  We decided to provide books for the 600+ children they expected at this event.  Thanks to our sponsor Hoya, we were able to buy 800 books at a children’s resale store.  It took almost the whole morning to select and box up the books that we delivered in the afternoon before leaving town to drive to Chicago.