We sometimes take for granted items that we never had to live without before.  How would you feel if you were not able to own something that you love? This is exactly why National Honor Society (NHS) organized this year’s book drive. Countless underprivileged families exist in our country who are not able to purchase books for their children. Children should not have to grow up without the opportunity to read, so NHS decided to pull together the resources of Greater Latrobe and help these families.

The Consortium for Public Education coordinates the “Harvest of Books” drive each year. Their overall goal is to collect one million children’s books. The Consortium for Public Education partnered with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which is responsible for distributing the books they have collected to underprivileged families in our country.

After collecting the donated books, NHS will take the books to Pittsburgh to the storage facility at the Waterfront in Homestead and sort them. From there, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will distribute the books to food pantries across the nation.

This year’s “Harvest of Books” drive runs from October 5 to November 10. Students can drop off the books they are donating to either their English or history teacher. Some teachers are giving students bonus points for bringing in books. These books have to be new or gently used for children up to 8 years of age. Religious material, encyclopedia sets, and textbooks cannot be accepted.

“It was tough to separate myself from childhood memories, but I realized that there’s another child out there that wants to have wonderful memories from these books, just as I did,” says junior, Mickey Orange. This drive gives students the opportunity to give back and help a child in need. “I love reading and loved it as a kid. Giving a child that opportunity would be great. Plus, bonus points are also nice,” says Jessica Kissell, junior. Students are helping NHS support this wonderful cause and giving children the opportunity everyone should have- the opportunity to read.