The National English Honors Society held their first-ever book drive from Nov. 1-12 to involve the HHS community in an effort to provide books to students and communities who may not have access to them, co-president Macy Li said. 

“We think that books are a wonderful way to bring joy to people because books can offer you insight into different worlds, different perspectives, different realities,” Li, a junior, said. “That allows you to take your mind off of the present and kind of indulge in a more enjoyable kind of scene.”

In order to achieve this, Li said she and co-president, junior Alan Jian, went through the process of getting ASB approval. Once they received approval, NEHS’ committee began meeting regularly to figure out the logistics, Li said.

“We submitted a request to get our [event approved] and then our committee figured out who was going to watch over the bin and make sure that it was overflowing for the day,” Li said. “Now, we’re going to choose [who] to donate to, reach out to them and see how we can organize the donation.”

At the end of the drive, 60 books total were collected, co-president Jian said. 

“We’re happy with the number of books we got because we didn’t have any expectations coming in,” Jian said. “Seeing that there were people that participated and that books were coming in made us excited since it means that people actually do care about it.”

Additionally, the books collected will be donated to communities in need.

“We’re going to work with our committee to find the communities or organizations or whoever needs the books we have, and then we will donate all those books to those places,” Jian said.

Junior Melanie Hernandez, who participated in donating to the drive, said that since the books she donated were donated to her, she wanted to keep the tradition of it going.

“I heard about the book drive through Homestead ASB’s Instagram and instantly got inspired to donate,” Hernandez said. “After donating my books, I am happy that others will enjoy them as much as I did.”