Traveling Stories: Fueling children's minds with stories."Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting." ~Aldous Huxley
Huxley is right. Being able to read really does empower us to make our lives more full, significant and interesting. In a recent interview with Parade magazine Oprah shared similar sentiments. She said, "I wasn't a dreamer as much as I was a reader. That allowed me to see ... that there was a world beyond my backyard."
Oprah is right, too. But what about people who can read but have no access to books? This is why I am starting Traveling Stories, a non profit organization dedicated to putting books into the hands of kids who have none.
The idea for Traveling Stories began when I was teaching high school students in Honduras. My students hated reading but had little to no access to books, something I could hardly fathom having grown up in a country with bookstores and libraries in every neighborhood. During my trip home for Christmas I purchased 40 books from used book stores. I took them back to my students in January and made them read for an hour a day. Eventually they fell in love with reading! I saw their behavior and attitude toward learning English improve incredibly! I decided to try and provide that opportunity to more kids. Thus, Traveling Stories.
Currently I'm raising money to pay for the legal fees of becoming an official 501c3 organization. It's going to cost roughly $1,000 ($250 to get incorporated and $750 for the 501c3). Here's what I'm looking for:
- 200 people willing to give $5 each
- 50 people willing to give $20 each, or
- 20 people willing to give $50 each.
The first books will be donated to an orphanage and preschool in San Salvador, El Salvador.
Thanks for reading!
