When we think of recycling, our minds are limited to images of large blue bins filled with cardboard scraps and plastic bottles. But once eighteen-year-old Maria Reynolds from Houston, Texas saw that the students at Gregg Elementary were seriously lacking in books, she decided everyone needed to expand their vocabulary.
And so, in the fall of 2010, her junior year at St. John’s School, Maria founded “Recycled Reads,” an organization devoted to collecting and donating books to kids in underprivileged neighborhoods. She managed to donate about 2,000 books to Gregg Elementary.
The kids, who previously hadn’t owned a single book at home, were transformed. “Since the donation, the students’ reading levels have shot up, they have discovered favorite authors and series, and they are sharing the books with other members of their families!” Maria says.
That was just the beginning. When Maria presented her project to another service organization, Links, Inc., they decided to take Gregg Elementary under their wing, providing tutoring services in reading, donating laptops and e-readers, and rewarding the most avid readers with a pizza party.
Maria’s response? “I’m just glad I was able to make a difference!” she says.
Now you can also help make a difference by just one click. For every Wave for Change® video view at Neutrogena.com/waveforchange or on Facebook.com/Neutrogena, Neutrogena® will donate $1 to GlobalGiving to support U.S. educational charities. Watch. Donate. Share. (hyperlinks are: Neutrogena.com/waveforchange and Facebook.com/Neutrogena).
Any Neutrogena® Wave for Change® video views on Neutrogena.com/waveforchange and on Neutrogena® page on Facebook 7/1/12-8/31/12 will activate $1 donation to GlobalGiving. Neutrogena® will kick-off Wave for Change® with $100K donation. Then, for each eligible video view, Neutrogena® will donate for a maximum of $130K. For more information about GlobalGiving, visit GlobalGiving.org.
“Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Neutrogena® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Neutrogena®”.