Every student at the Panther Valley Elementary received a book when Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles "Chuck" Shuck dropped off 570 paperbacks at the school Monday morning.

Shuck had started a campaign to purchase approximately 500 copies of the American Humane Association's book "Gabe: The Dog Who Sniffs Out Danger" for his hometown elementary at the close of the 2015-16 school year."Reading is an intricate part of a child's learning process," Shuck said. I credit the elementary with my military success. It all comes back to the elementary schools."Residents from all over Carbon and Schuylkill counties worked together to sponsor the program and provided the school with one book for every student from kindergarten to third grade.Even Shuck's former fifth-grade math teacher Mr. DePue's family lent a hand by sponsoring more than 60 books for the children of the school.Each book cost Shuck $4, with the remaining $1 per sponsor earmarked for shelter dogs in need of care.Shuck graduated from Panther Valley in 1997, then joined the military, where he was deployed to Iraq with Gabe, a shelter-rescued yellow Labrador who was trained by the military to become a bomb-sniffing Army canine. The duo completed 210 combat missions.The four-legged trooper was awarded the 2012 American Humane Association's Hero Dog title. Gabe passed away from cancer in 2013 at the age of 10, but Shuck has kept his memory alive over the years with his books and toys in Gabe's likeness."I just wanted to thank the community for the books. They really responded for these kids, and it's what Panther Valley needs," Shuck said."He is one of our success stories," school secretary Terese Altemose said."He's a good example for the children, that no matter the circumstances they can make something of themselves," she said.