Through the campaign, we successfully sourced over 600 books which were then made available to communities that are truly in need through partners selected for their impact – MyReaders and Friends To Mankind.
MyReaders champions various communities across Malaysia, helping children in need from shelters to schools and other establishments. They focus on improving the literacy of children under the age of 17 so that they may function better in society. Their programmes target children who are falling off traditional schooling systems and they are always in search for more books to help in their efforts.
Friends To Mankind is working on an initiative to help build libraries for various marginalized communities. This ongoing campaign, The Book Effect, aims to collect 10,000 books. They too believe that education opens the doors to a brighter future and helps solve literacy problems at its roots.
The biggest book donor came from among our own staff, Ms JY Mei. She donated books of a variety of genres, all suitable for the target audience of children.
“Most of the books belong to my own children and some of them are from the younger generation of my relatives,” she said. “The owner of these books have long outgrown them and since they did so much good to my own children, it would be a waste if others didn’t benefit from it when the opportunity arise. Knowledge is valuable and should be shared.”
Homes and shelter may be a basic need, but through Building Hope, our Christmas wish is to give underprivileged children the light of literacy, for that brightens their path to the future.
