Previously abandoned books can receive a new life through the book drive, a project sophomores Ellen Li, Anvi Saxena, and Aashi Oswal created to provide reading material to refugee kids at  the Northwest Community Center in Dallas.  

“When we were tutoring refugees, we realized that they don’t have many books to choose from, and since they are new to English, it’s crucial for them to pick up a book that they really want,” Saxena said. “So by conducting a book drive we are trying to provide them with more variety to choose from so learning English can become a little easier.”

So far, they have received a total of 521 books since the first week of December, far surpassing the original goal of 100 books. 

“We have received a lot of support from family and friends around the DFW area,” Saxena said. “They decided to donate books and spread the word about the drive.”

In addition to community help, DECA has also supported the drive by sending out reminders to all of their members and encouraging members to donate. 

“We made a Google Form and sent it out to people. We tried to reach out to as many people as we could,” Li said. “After they dropped the books off in Mr. Lamas’s room (DECA’s sponsor), I took them and carried them home. I am currently in the process of sorting and organizing the books.”

With hundreds of books donated so far, the drive is doing better than their modest aspirations. For Oswal, their success can be attributed to a few simple factors. 

“You get to help out refugees, those less privileged than you,” she said. “You can get volunteer hours for it, and it’s just nice knowing you’re contributing to something bigger than yourself.”