Feb 18, 2016 4 min read

Times are tough, budgets have been tightened, and Monongahela, Finleyville and Ringgold School District all cut annual contributions to Monongahela Area Library, but a group of community members and local businesses are determined to make up the loss of funding.

After learning of the dire needs of the library, within days, Michelle Branthoover-Parnell, Carol Provan, Michelle Hazen DeHosse, Matti Gruz, Sabrina Bowen and Corrina Withrow founded a Monongahela Area Library fundraising group.

“Our goal this year is to make up the $12,000 that the library has lost in recent funding cuts,”said Branthoover-Parnell.

A Facebook page, Monongahela Area Library Lovers, was created to provide details on current and upcoming fundraisers and news concerning the library.

A spaghetti dinner is being organized, with 100 percent of the proceeds going toward the library. Donations rolled in from Cox’s Market and Italian Village Pizza, and The Twist offered the space to hold the dinner. Volunteers will be cooking and serving.

Stefano Nowo, owner of Italian Village Pizza, said, “We have been helping the community for several years. The library is extremely important for the community. I feel like I need to step up for this cause. The school won’t help, so I will. It’s for the kids. I donated two cases of spaghetti, two cases of meatballs, and we are making a big, fresh homemade pot of marinara, as well.”

Cox’s Market is supplying bread and desserts.

Sherri Kumpf Vizzuett, owner of The Twist, said she jumped at the chance to help the library.

Living in close proximity to the old and current library, she said she and her children grew up with a close connection to both libraries.

“It has always been a place of peace. Everyone should be contributing in some way, but as a business owner, we are making our resources available at the library’s disposal to use for fundraising. I am now challenging other local restaurants to take the torch, on a rotational basis, and open their doors and kitchens, to make this a monthly food event,” she said.

Michelle Hazen DeHosse is passionate about the library.

“In this day and age of every kid glued to their phone, tablet or video game, I think we have lost the joy of just sitting down and reading a book,” she said. “I can remember walking the four blocks down the hill to the library when I was a kid to get all sorts of books out. It concerns me that we may lose our library. I know that it is an important service to those who do not have Internet service and to those who now own a Kindle or Nook to get their books or, on the flip side, do not own a Kindle or Nook, to get the latest books.

“Being a business owner on Main Street, I get asked for donations all the time, but the library is just one of those things that is close to my heart and, in my opinion, a very important asset in our community.”

Branthoover-Parnell encourages community members to join the library fundraising group. The group meets at 9:30 a.m. each Friday at Little City Coffee, 418 W. Main St., Monongahela.

“We are looking for residents to join with us to keep our library open. We are working on future fundraisers and are brainstorming new ideas for the upcoming months,” she said.

The Monongahela Area Library Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at The Twist, 207 Main St., New Eagle. Dinners are $8 for adults, $5 for children 10 and younger, and free for children younger than 3 (dine-in only). Dinners also will be available for takeout.

Also underway is a Cards For A Cause fundraiser. Thirty handmade cards in a keepsake box can be purchased for $30. Order forms are available at the front desk of the library, and orders also can be made at the spaghetti dinner. The fundraiser closes Feb. 29.