Photo by Sabrina Romano 

Riley Baker (left) and a Pittsburgh Cares volunteers reads to students at Propel Northside in California-Kirkbride Monday, March 30.

By Sabrina Romano

The saying “better late than never” came into play Monday, March 30 at the Propel Northside school during the first annual celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday in conjunction with Pittsburgh Cares, which was originally scheduled for March 2.

During the morning event geared towards kindergarten-second grade students, volunteers from Pittsburgh Cares read Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat, facilitated a discussion about the book and helped the students craft their own Cat in the Hat hat from paper plates and construction paper.

Usually, Propel Northside would celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday by having the teachers do a special activity with their class. This year was a little different because the school welcomed volunteers.

“Propel decided to hold this event because we were approached by Pittsburgh Cares. Pittsburgh Cares has volunteers that really wanted to be involved with schools in the community. They asked us if we would like to be involved with the same event,” Maura DeRiggi, Propel’s marketing and community relations specialist, said.

The volunteers set an example for the children by showing them that people read for enjoyment, and not just for class.

“The children are going to learn that adults think it is very important to read and to have literacy every single day and that reading is not just something that you do in school,” DeRiggi said. “Reading is fun and Dr. Seuss proves that over and over again.”

Riley Baker, the director of the retired and senior volunteer program and community connections at Pittsburgh Cares, reached out to Propel Northside to arrange the event.

“(I expect) volunteers to make an impact here in the community and have fun doing it,” Baker said about Seuss day.

Amanda Trocki, the director of corporate programs at Pittsburgh Cares, said the event went well.

“The volunteers were great,” Trocki said. “When you’re celebrating Dr. Seuss, how can you not have fun?”