Hundreds Of Books Collected For School In Mercer County's Battle Against Illiteracy

About six months into his term as Mercer County Prosecutor, Angelo J. Onofri is making progress in his battle against illiteracy.

“In the suburbs, for every child there are 17 books in the home, but in the inner cities, there’s one book per 100 kids,” Onofri said when he took his oath of office back in January.

His belief is that children need to be reached at an early age to prevent them from turning to a life of crime by the time they reach their 20s. He said the leading cause of death among males ages 18 to 25 is homicide. At that point, Onofri committed to working with organizations to increase access to books for those children.

The Mercer County Bar Association (MCBA) joined him in this fight. Since then, hundreds of books were collected throughout the months of March, April and May, the prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday morning.

The books, which will be donated to Gregory Elementary School in Trenton, were collected through the effort of community co-chairs Stacey Geurds, of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, and the MCBA’s Robin Echevarria.

“The Mercer County Bar Association was happy to partner with Prosecutor Onofri to support such an important initiative,” MCBA President Robert E. Lytle said.

The attached image was provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, pictured left to right: Robert E. Lytle, president of the Mercer County Bar Association; Trenton Mayor Eric E. Jackson; Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri; Trenton Police Director Ernest Parrey Jr.; and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of Detectives Veldon Harris.