NAPLES — This year, children’s books have gone green! With the nonprofit, BelieveNBooks, over 15,000 books have been donated to underserved children in SW Florida in its first year of operation. A 2009 article for Teachers College Record shows that 61% of low-income families have no books at all in their homes for children, and this organization aims to empower kids to help each other and lower this number significantly.

BelieveNBooks started as a child’s idea to give gently used books to other children that may not be able to access them on a regular basis. After a lot of advocacy and book drives, books that would have gone unused on shelves or thrown away found new homes where they could be enjoyed again! This organization strongly believes that every child deserves access to quality reading materials to help develop a love of reading.

The mission of BelieveNBooks also provides an opportunity to contribute to your community and the environment. Apart from giving book access to children who cannot afford them, recycling books also offsets the carbon footprint of manufacturing books. According to a study in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, manufacturing a book was found to produce 2.71 kilograms of Carbon Dioxide equivalent. That means the generous donations to BelieveNBooks to date, have already helped offset carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 40,650 kilograms! It is apparent that one book can make a difference in the lives of others in more ways than one. This Earth Day, you can contribute to the environment and education by reusing and recycling the children’s books in your home!

BelieveNBooks was started in 2021 by Natasha Agarwal at the age of 14! This organization wants to motivate kids to run book drives in their own schools. BelieveNBooks has always taken utmost care in distributing donated books to those who need them the most, including Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, Grace Place, Guadalupe Center, to name a few of their non- profit partners.

BelieveNBooks is 100% volunteer driven and has grown quickly with great gratitude towards donators of books, monetary donations, and time. This Earth Day is the perfect time to think about contributing to BelieveNBooks in any way you like.

For more information about BelieveNBooks, please call 239-295-8302 or email info@believenbooks.org Check out our website at www.believenbooks.org

About BelieveNBooks
During the COVID 19 pandemic, reading was a big part of being at home for Natasha Agarwal. Though she could not travel, she felt she could visit anywhere in the world through a good book. The realization that not everyone has access to books in their everyday lives made a significant impact on Natasha. This inspired her to start BelieveNBooks so that everyone has the chance to get lost in a book. Natasha started BelieveNBooks as an 8th grader in 2021. Our mission is to provide children with books to expand their horizons and enhance their understanding of the world.