I think back to those very first days in 2008 when we were simply talking about using Kate’s memorial money to hand out books for a few months. We had no idea what was ahead. Our friends and family rallied behind us and began sharing our idea.
Within a few months, a friend of a friend offered to host a “Fill the U-Haul” book drive. I was skeptical. A whole U-Haul?!
But we did it—and suddenly, we had a new problem: What were we going to do with all of these books?
I still remember my husband, Andy, saying, “They aren’t going in our garage.”
So, what do you do when you’ve filled a U-Haul with books?
We immediately rented a 5×10 climate-controlled storage unit and stacked tubs of books inside that glorified closet. A few months later, we made a huge investment: two shelving units for $200. At the time, that felt like a major purchase.
Of course, within a few months, that space was way too small. There was barely room to move. So we upgraded to a 10×10 unit, bought a few more shelves, and thought we were so organized.
But we kept growing.
We had extra Karts waiting to be painted. Our Ice Cream Social was growing, and we had supplies and seasonal items to store. So, we rented a second 10×10 unit a few doors down.
It worked.
But looking back, I just laugh at what that meant:
- Constantly walking out into the hallway and waving our arms to get the lights to turn back on.
- Packing everything up to run over to the gas station to use the bathroom.
- Convincing volunteers to help, knowing we had no chairs, no tables and no bathroom.
For 6 years, we operated out of a storage unit and gave out over 17,000 books in a year.
In 2013, we took a giant leap and rented a 1,000-square-foot office/warehouse unit within the storage facility.
It was AMAZING. We had air conditioning. We had room for tables and chairs. We had an actual office. And…we had a bathroom.
It’s the simple things!
We added more shelves and opened our space up to more volunteers. It was working perfectly for us—until the company decided to turn those office spaces into storage units.
So…now what?
We had gone from 50 square feet, to 200, to 1,000.
And then, in 2014 we found a location at Leo Crossing that was 2,151 square feet. It was SO much bigger than anything we could have imagined using. But Max Shambaugh offered us a deal we couldn’t pass up, and we moved in.
It was amazing.
We added more shelves, got completely organized, and finally had space for board meetings and field trips.
And then we grew…again
We added staff and desks. We got our vans. We added hospitals. We added Karts. And slowly, all of that extra space began disappearing.
After about 7 years, we even had to rent another storage unit just to hold our Ice Cream Social supplies and seasonal items.
And then, in 2024, just like that, we had outgrown our space again.
We now had three staff members and no private space. Private meetings and phone calls meant sitting in our cars or sending staff on “errands.” When a pallet of books arrived, our already-packed shelves became even more packed.
Then, two doors down became available.
It wasn’t ideal to have our operations split between two spaces, but it was an immediate solution to an immediate need. We moved our “office” two doors down, moved out of the storage unit because we now had storage space, and purchased eight new shelves.
For the first time in a while, we were able to completely reorganize our books.
It worked.
But we knew it wasn’t a permanent answer.
And then one day, an email crossed my screen:
Space available.
We started looking at the possibilities.
Still on the north side. Convenient to I-69 and the highways.
More space—because we now know that nothing is ever too big.
Office and storage all under one roof.
A great location with visibility and a welcoming space for donors, volunteers and families.
After several meetings, lots of discussion, and weighing all of the pros and cons, our board made the decision.
It was time to move into our next chapter.
A little earlier than we expected.
But we are SO excited for what is next.
When I look back at the journey—from a 5×10 storage unit and $200 worth of shelves to where Kate’s Kart is today, I can’t help but smile.
Every space served its purpose.
Every move happened because we were growing.
And every time we thought, “Surely this is enough space,” we learned that there were more children to reach, more books to share and more work to do.
Our journey has been nothing short of amazing.
And now, we’re ready for our next chapter.
Krista
