The BIG Book Drive Local SFU Business students collected over 3,500 books in Richmond to help increase literacy skills in BC

by Joseph Choi
(Lansdowne Shopping Centre, Richmond, BC)

Thank You Richmond for Supporting The BIG Book Drive!
Local SFU Business students collected over 3,500 books in Richmond to help increase literacy skills in BC

Richmond, BC - The BIG Book Drive team made up of three Simon Fraser University students, Joseph Choi, Alex Venetis and Steffi Chua would like to thank the community of Richmond for their incredible support and contributions on February 26th, 2011. The community donated over 3,500 books to the book drive in support of increasing literacy skills in BC, almost doubling the team's initial goal of collecting just 2,000 books.

"Just from the first two hours of our event, we estimated that we had already collected over 1,000 books," says Joseph Choi, one of the BIG Book Drive coordinators. "The generosity from the Richmond community is simply incredible."

These books are going towards the Salvation Army in support of their family support services and their other literacy-related programs. According to Literacy BC, 40% of adults in British Columbia do not have the literacy skills needed to fully participate and succeed in today’s world. This presents over one million people who are under-equipped to cope with society's increasing informational demands. Having low literacy rates increases poverty and crime which hinders economic productivity; it indirectly affects our personal health and well-being overall. The BIG Book Drive team wants to give these low-income families and children access to these books so that they could gain the literacy skills to succeed.

Fred Tsai, a Richmond resident and event participant, had this to say, "This is a great cause for the community. When I first found out about this, I thought the books were going to be donated to the Salvation Army to be sold in-store, but upon finding out that they were actually going to help out the low-income families and children who don't have as much access to books, I jumped right on board."


While 3,500 books does seem like a big number, this is not the end for The BIG Book Drive. The team will be in Burnaby at the Salvation Army's Divisional Headquarters (3833 Henning Dr.) on March 19-20 to collect books from the community. The team's current goal now is to collect over 6,500 books in BC to create an even bigger impact on literacy.

"With the help of the Lower Mainland residents," says Steffi Chua. "We can reach this goal for 6,500 books. There are so many children, teenagers, and young adults who don't have access to books that can improve their literacy skills. We feel very fortunate to be able to make this project happen with the education received from a university like SFU."

Event Information:
March 19-20: The BIG Book Drive will take place at Salvation Army's Divisional Headquarters located at 3833 Henning Dr. in Burnaby, BC from 10:00am to 6:00pm on both days.

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For more information, please contact:
Joseph Choi
Phone: 778-991-7654
Email: thebigbookdrive@gmail.com
www.thebigbookdrive.com