Making the World A Better Place One Book At a Time by Ryan

Making the World A Better Place One Book At a Time by Ryan - February 2020 Scholarship Essay

Imagine a world without books. Imagine going to sleep at night as a child without having had a bedtime story read to you. Imagine attending school with other children whose homes are filled with books and who do considerably better than you as a result.

My name is Ryan Keller and I’m the program manager of Read Indeed, a nonprofit literacy organization in Minneapolis. Read Indeed was originally founded by my sister when she was 8 years old and I was 5. The undertaking of Read Indeed is a simple one: Get books into the children who need them most in order to improve literacy rates throughout the United States and beyond. Albeit simple, Read Indeed's mission is having a profound impact on the lives of children, especially considering that we have collected and gifted nearly 3 million books to kids in need in the last 10 years.

While Read Indeed is an nonprofit that is already in existence, and one that I am passionate about, if I were to have the opportunity to work in the nonprofit world, I would expand upon our literacy efforts. Here's why: Studies have shown that having books in a home means those children's success rate in school is significantly higher than children who have no books in their homes.

The goal of collecting and distributing books to at-risk children and teens is helping address these profound literacy issues facing our society. When I personally hand a book to a child in need, the delight in their eyes is palpable. I have heard from hundreds of children, recipients of the books that Read Indeed has shipped to them, that these are some of the first books they have ever owned.

More than 500 organizations serving children and teens have received books from Read Indeed thus far and over 2.9 million books have been collected and distributed in total. Looking ahead, I expect to continue Read Indeed for many years to come and possibly expand our warehouse space and number of organizations we serve.

I strive to have a profound impact on the lives of the children we serve. I hope to introduce thousands of children to Albus Dumbledore, Mary Poppins, Tom Sawyer, the White Witch, and Madeline. I look forward to having one of the books I've distributed to a child, resting on their bedside table, bookmarked for another day.