Giving Back

This whole journey is not all about us - that would be selfish. Throughout our upbringing, we've always been taught the importance of giving back and helping others. So, that's where this aspect of our 'drive' comes into play; one we're super excited about.

Reading and education have always been a major part of our lives. We still remember choosing books to read every night with our parents before bed and weekly trips to the library. Even now, we still enjoy reading and frequent our local library. We've always loved school, and if our education has taught us anything, it's the importance of learning and schooling for global change.

 “Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, is essential to development and health, and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship.”
-Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General

So, in these next nine months (and beyond), we want to use this blog as a platform to raise awareness for the importance of literacy both here at home and abroad.

Here's how it will all go down!

"Imagine a world in which every child learns to read. Envision a world where every child has access to books. Picture a world where all children realize their full potential."

Room to Read (http://www.roomtoread.org)

Our venture involves partnering with 'Room to Read', a non-profit organization working for literacy and education around the world. It was started by a man named John Wood, after a life-changing visit to Nepal. For more on his story, read his memoir 'Leaving Microsoft to Change the World' - it's excellent!

More specifically, this organization gives individuals the ability to raise money to build libraries in various areas in Asia and Africa. When we stumbled across this, we thought - this is something we have to do. The cost for a Reading Room (library) is $5000, and although this sounds ambitious, we know that we can do it. Go big or go home! The thought of providing children with their first library, their first sets of books, and ultimately helping them on their educational path, is not only exciting, but also fulfills a life-long passion for helping others. We have created a fundraising page where you can donate and follow our progress. We would love your support. If you could pass the information around, that'd be awesome; the more people who know, the better!!

If you stop for a second to think about where you are today, there's a good chance it has to do with your education, upon which the basis was literacy. Think also about the millions of children who do not have the same opportunity you did, but who, if given the chance, would be able to accomplish their dreams. You could be a part of paving a new path for so many children and their communities. What could be better?

Ultimately, fulfilling this aspect of our 'Drive to 25' would definitely make this journey worthwhile. This is an issue we are passionate about and we look forward to reaching our goal! Let's help build a Reading Room!

To make a donation visit the Donate page on our blog!