BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKS
Parish Nurse Office, 1st Floor, South Hallway
Parish Nurses will be doing blood pressure checks on Sunday, April 1st from 9:30-11:00am in the Parish Nurse office.

GROWING TOGETHER PROGRAM
We have a gardening program for Olivet members to participate.
Gathering (25th St. S. and 40th Ave. S.) Thursdays 5:00pm-8:00pm. Our refugee gardening program shares with refugee families from Liberia, Sudan, Rwanda, and Iraq. Gardening 5:00-6:30pm, Dinner 6:30-7:15pm, Children’s Activities 7:15-8:00pm. Each refugee family have their own individual plots and we have community plots that we garden together.
You can email us for further details, and if you want to be on the mailing list for weather cancellations and general information. Jack Wood: bwood@cableone.net or Nola Storm: njsto@yahoo.com

YWCA WOMEN’S SHELTER NEEDS:
Over the door hangers (for coats, towels, etc.), Diapers (sizes 5-6), Summer clothes all ages (especially children), Pull-ups, Shoes in good condition, all sizes. Donations can be taken to the YWCA Women’s Shelter, 3000 South University Drive, Fargo.

OLIVET LIBRARY:
Encouraging Young Readers
The Olivet Library offers a great selection of Christian and secular reading materials for patrons of all ages. We also provide a Sunday School Book Cart program which brings books up to the classroom area where children can select books to borrow from the library. A 2008 Scholastic//TSC reading study which compiled survey results from 1000 respondents (children ages 5-17 and their parents) provided some interesting results. Here are a few highlights:
• 75% of kids agreed with the statement, “No matter what I can do online, I’ll always want to read books printed on paper.”
• Kids reading books for fun declines after age eight and continues to drop off through the teen years.
• One of the key reasons kids say they don’t read more often is that they have trouble finding books they like–a challenge that parents underestimate.
• Parents overwhelmingly view reading as the most important skill a child needs to develop, but only about half of all parents begin reading to their child before their first birthday.
• Parents who read books for fun daily are six times more likely than low frequency reading parents to have kids who also read for fun daily.
Study recommendations to help children increase their reading frequency:
1. Kids need opportunities to choose their own books.
2. Parents can continue to read to or with their children past the early elementary years
3. Parents and teachers can leverage kids’ interest in technology to spark a greater interest in reading books (online fan sites, message boards, author sites, sampling books online, sharing information with friends, etc.)
4. Parents can increase their own reading frequency and serve as a reading role model for kids.
If you or your children have suggestions for a particular book, author, or genre that you would like to see added to our library, please e-mail olivet.library@yahoo.com, or leave a message in the church office or at the library desk.

Olivet Library Welcomes Your Donations
Does the term “bookworm” describe someone you know? Is there a hard-to-buy-for person in your life? If you’re looking for a meaningful gift for that special someone, please consider making a donation to the Olivet Library Fund in their honor. Maybe you enjoy our selections of books and DVDs, and would like to see more new titles on the shelves? A monetary gift to the Olivet Library Fund supports new purchases that can be shared by lots of happy patrons. The library also welcomes donations of gently used books and DVDs, which may be dropped off in the main office. The Olivet Library is a wonderful resource—use it, enjoy it, support it!

OLIVET QUILTERS
If you are interested in experiencing the fun and fellowship of quilting, you are welcome to join the Olivet Quilters when their weekly quilting sessions resume on Wednesday, September 17th at 9:00am in the Fellowship Hall. No previous experience is necessary. If you’re able to sew, rip, cut, pin or tie, you’ll find something useful and satisfying to do. The quilters have a continuing need for materials suitable for quilting. If you have any used sheets, drapes, etc. that you can contribute, please drop them off at the church during office hours.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)
Are you a mother of a preschooler(s) ages 0-5? Then MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is for you! MOPS is a place where mothers feel welcome, make connections, and know they are not alone during these sometimes trying times. MOPS meet the 1st and 3rd Thursday morning of each month here at Olivet, starting September 3rd. For information please contact Jennifer Freed 371-9949 or Julie Friederichs 388-0285.