The Children’s Reading Foundation of Appalachia has been prominent in the community for some time — always striving to provide children and their families the care they believe everyone is entitled to.

This week’s Local Folks focuses on an individual who has worked with The Children’s Reading Foundation and done her part in providing a helping hand to those in her community.

Eastern Kentucky University senior Sarah Jones is in the Communication Disorders Program and is also the philanthropy head of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA).

Jones has been involved with the CRFA for two years, and last fall she held a book drive on her campus.

“We actually had the most successful book drive that they’ve had to date. The local library was nice to partner with our organization…we had over 1,000 books donated,” she said.

As far as what makes Jones pursue her field of study and to reach out to the community, she said, “I like to help children and work with children who have certain disabilities and things. When I discovered more about speech language pathology and what that field encompasses, it was a good match for me…it was just a very good collection of things that I enjoy in my personal life.”

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines the job of a speech pathologist as a person who works to assess, diagnose, treat and even prevent various language, speech, communication or swallowing disorders.

Jones greatly enjoys working with the CRFA and finds inspiration in the passion the organization has.

“Any time you’re around someone who is that passionate about what they’re doing things will always be a success,” said Jones.

Jones’ whole outlook on helping others is what drives her toward success.

“I like volunteering and being involved in things in the community because I think that really, what’s the point of what we do if we’re not trying to help other people? What’s the point of being here and what’s the point of anything if all of what you do is for yourself? I think there is something special about doing things that are just for other people…even if you may not reap rewards from it, I think overall you get such a good feeling…it’s rewarding in another sense,” she said.