Better World Books August Book Drive Day 6

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” Helen Keller

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." ~ Cicero

Today's book is Give a Little by Wendy Smith. I have actually read this book before, but chose to re-read it today and then send it on to Better World Books because it is the book that inspired me to undertake this project in the first place.

Give a Little corrects the common misconceptions about giving, shows what a huge impact the smallest of donations can make and gives advice on how to make sure you are getting the biggest bang for your donated buck.

I was shocked to discover that people just like me giving small donations ended up giving $229 billion dollars in 2008. After the 2004 tsunami, it was American citizens (most of whom gave gifts of less than $50), not the government or corporations that donated the most money.  We may not be Oprah or Bill Gates, but together our donations make a huge difference.  When I first read this book, that served as a huge inspiration for me. I often worried that the little I gave didn't  make much of a difference. Now I see that it is the small donations that make the biggest changes in the world. The book goes on to show examples of how small donations have cured diseases in the past (such as dimes for polio) and gives lots of inspiring stories and ideas of where your small donations can change lives now.

This book not only provided me with plenty of new ideas for giving, it also inspired me to try and find ways that I could make small changes in my everyday life. One of these changes was to try and buy from companies that give back and support causes I believe in, such as Better World Books. Donating the books I buy from them back to them so that I would be doing even more for literacy programs seemed like the next logical step.