The Rescue Mission is looking for help replenishing some much-needed items after an outbreak of an infection forced them to throw many items away.

The Rescue Mission is a place where families can go to get shelter and feel safe, but as with any community living arrangement, sometimes sicknesses and disease can spread. 

That’s exactly what happened last month at the Rescue Mission in Youngstown when an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease infected several people there.

Hand, foot, and mouth gets its name from a rash that forms on the hands, feet and inside the mouth. It tends to be more common during summer months and is highly contagious.

Rescue Mission President John Muckridge said he thinks children at the mission brought the infection into the building from daycare.

“You have to jump on it right away. You have to sanitize. You have to quarantine. We brought food up to the families that had the disease to their rooms, and they stayed in their rooms,” Muckridge said.

Unfortunately, not everything can be sanitized. Now, the Rescue Mission’s bookshelves are empty – one of the main sources of entertainment for the kids there.

“These folks down in Columbiana at the Dutch Haus Best Western took it upon themselves to do a book drive to help replace the books. With the drive, we will have all of the books that we need. We will be good to go,” Muckridge said.

The book drive will start on September 6 (National Read a Book Day) and end of September 13. The hotel will be offering a deal to those that bring in books. 

Dutch Haus Best Western is located at 14895 South Avenue Extension in Columbiana, OH 44408.