Here's how we're taking action in our community:
Along with my mom and a small team of volunteers, I'm building a library and reading program at CHOC Children's Hospital, which will helpfully be a project that goes on for many years. For this event (Arroyo Ripple Kids fair), we created and sold ECBC's first merchandise -- t-shirts, tote bags, and bookmarks. We also partnered with Susie Alexander, the owner of Tustin's local bookstore Once Upon a Storybook. She brought children's books from her store to sell at my booth for people to donate to the library we are building.
Here's how we got the idea:
When I was diagnosed with Leukemia last year, I noticed that there were no books or reading going on at the hospital. I love to read, and it helped me get through hard hospital days -- so I want to make sure that other kids at the hospital also have access to books and opportunities to read/be read to.
These are the steps we took:
We've been working hard to launch ECBC for the past 6 months. For this event, we designed and ordered merchandise, made signs, determined prices for the items, and made an announcement at Friday flag to help get the word out.
Here are some of the results:
We sold 24 bookmarks, 9 tote bags, 19 t-shirts, and 16 hardcover books were donated.
One of the coolest things that happened during my project was:
The next day, many of my friends were wearing ECBC shirts. It was so fun to see my friends supporting ECBC and my vision, and to have them helping me spread the word to others!
One of the most important things I learned was:
The point right now it is most important to build support for ECBC and the great need for a library program at CHOC Hospital -- that matters more than the amount of money we raised.