Acts of Kindness: Fruit Cove book drive comes through for hurricane-damaged school

A book drive held by Kumon Math and Reading Center of Jacksonville-Fruit Cove netted 510 books that were donated to the Cathedral School of St. Jude in St. Petersburg, which was damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.

Kumon instructor Kimberley Teira, whose sister-in-law is a teacher at St. Jude, led the drive. "When she told me about it, it was just awful," she said. "I thought, 'I can help. I can do something.'"

Parents and the community responded to her call.

"One boy brought his favorite book and gave it to me. I was a little teary from that. And another parent went to a bookstore and brought a bunch of books to us from there. It was overwhelming" she said.

Kumon , an after-school math and reading enrichment program, has eight Jacksonville-area locations.

Send Acts of Kindness news to bcravey@jacksonville.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville center donates books to hurricane damaged school