Co-written by Eric Xu and Andrew Zhang
San Diego students of AYLUS collected 4019 books between May 1st, 2018 and June 18th, 2018 from local schools across San Diego. They then donated these books to the Words Alive organization, helping to carry and load these books from vehicles to the Words Alive office. It took a total of 5 vehicles to transport all of the donated books to the Words Alive location. Over 50 boxes were used to transport the books, and because the office was located on the second floor, it took a lot of hard work from our members to carry the heavy boxes up the stairs.
Words Alive is a nonprofit organization that aims to create and deliver many meaningful literacy programs that help participants develop a lasting love and habit of reading. Through their teacher-guided reading services and scholarship programs, Words Alive aims to open up opportunities for at-risk populations such as pregnant and parenting teens, low-income families, and others who may not have access to books. By donating books, AYLUS is helping to make literature more accessible and teaching the importance of reading at a young age to the children of these at-risk families.
In 2017, Words Alive served over 3700 students and parents in their literacy program sessions, which aims to actively engage people to connect with literature. They also helped over 400 families add a combined total of 2500 books to their bookshelves. Moving forward, Words Alive hopes to reach out to the community and collaborate with school districts to make literature available and enjoyable for students of all ages and economic backgrounds.
The San Diego AYLUS Branch students have now collected and donated a total of 11200 books to schools, charities, and non-profit organizations since June 2016.
Members present: Jonathan Backues, Annie Bian, Leonard Fan, Chengda Li, Chengming Li, Raymond Li, Joshua Trost, Eric Xu, Amanda Zhang, Andrew Zhang, Alan Zhu, and Brian Zhu.
Thank you to all the members who participated!
