Books For Africa Celebrates Opening of New Georgia Warehouse
Read Mshale's coverage of the event here!
Last weekend, Books For Africa celebrated the opening of its new warehouse in Marietta, Georgia, with a celebration featuring dignitaries such as Her Excellency Hilda Suka-Mafudze, Ambassador of the African Union to the United States, BFA Board President Joni Sussman and BFA Founder Tom Warth.
The event kicked off at 1:00 p.m. at the new warehouse location, and was also attended by BFA Executive Director Patrick Plonski and many BFA board members, including John Elstad of Thomson Reuters, who will be funding the delivery costs of a container of books and a law library to the Ambassador's home country of Zimbabwe.
AU Ambassador recognized the support of the Atlanta metro community for Books For Africa, with 10,000-15,000 volunteers each year working to sort books for delivery to Africa. She also recognized Thomson Reuters for its generous support in funding a 40-foot sea container to Zimbabwe, including a law library, in honor of her visit. Lastly, she recognized the partnership between the African Union and Books For Africa, and reiterated a wish for the partnership to continue in the future.
Said the Ambassador, “Books For Africa stands as a shining example of the greatest qualities of this nation: its steadfast generosity, and its valuable contribution to the development of Africa…. I strongly believe that all the stars are aligned today to take U.S.-Africa relations to a higher and strategic level of engagement for the best interest of both sides. Books For Africa is an important lever in this regard that needs all our support and encouragement.”
To mark the occasion, BFA warehouse staff had packed 20 tons of books into a container for shipment to Nigeria, funded by UPS, and attendees were able to celebrate the departure of this container as well.
Refreshments were set out and music was provided by the BFA warehouse band.
The event was generously sponsored by Thomson Reuters, Vector Global Logistics, MK Management Company, Zep, and LocatorX.
As Ambassador Suka-Mafudze concluded, in addressing the crowd of guests, “I am confident that with your support and commitment to this noble cause, Books For Africa will continue to make a great impact in the continent. You are an eloquent example of an effective instrument of soft public diplomacy that contributes in enhancing the longstanding historic and cultural ties between our peoples and nations."
Check out more photos from the big event on our flickr album below, or read the rest of Ambassador Suka-Mafudze's remarks here!
