Reading is oftentimes called a chore, and disregarded for more “engaging” activities like doomscrolling on social media. It is a truly enjoyable pastime that many take for granted; however, some don’t have the luxury of access to books—let alone the ability to take reading for granted.
This truth was recognized by Neuqua’s freshman class, and along with it came a solution: host a book drive and raise hundreds of books to donate to underprivileged children. The drive concluded on Nov. 14, having lasted a week, during which students could bring their old books to the LMC to donate. The book drive was the first project taken on by the freshman class alone, an idea first brought to student council by Aahana Chawla, a freshman herself and the co-founder of Hope for Youth.
Hope for Youth is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping underprivileged students access the same items and resources many our age take for granted, like books. Aahana created this organization with her brother after experiencing a wake-up call through a documentary.
“I knew I wanted to do something to stop [this lack of access to books], at least a little,” Chawla said.
In her free time, Chawla enjoys watching documentaries to learn more about the world. One of these films happened to focus on the fact that children all over the world do not have easy access to things many consider necessities, such as education, food and books. Chawla knew that she could not just snap her fingers and solve this problem immediately, but that she could, instead, start an organization such as Hope For Youth to raise awareness and collect items to eventually donate to charities.
The books raised in not just Neuqua’s freshman book drive but also various book drives set up by Chawla will be donated to Hamline Elementary School—a school chosen with the help of Chawla’s arduous research on schools in need of book donations—in Chicago, Illinois. Chawla’s goal of exceeding 600 books was far surpassed, having raised more than 800 books.
But Chawla was not the only mastermind to be credited in the making of the freshman book drive. The newly elected freshman class officers also played a major role in bringing the idea to life. They had little time to get in the swing of their newfound responsibilities before organizing the project, since the topic was introduced to all student council members at the first meeting. From then on, news of the book drive was successfully spread by word, travelling from Chawla to officers, officers to members and members to students.
Elizabeth Davila, one of the four freshman student council class officers, shared her perspective on the drive and its success.
“The book drive brought out so much generosity,” Davila said. “It was really inspiring to see students donating books they loved so younger kids can enjoy them too.”
Visiting the book drive box each day truly inspired many in the freshman class. Watching the box fill up—slowly at first, and eventually to the point where two shelves existed to contain all the donated books—was a heartwarming comfort to many. And, if you missed out on the book drive this time, make sure to keep an eye out. After observing the success of this one, there may very well be a second!
