Natasha started a book drive, and in 5 years gave 250,000 books across US and Africa

Natasha Agarwal: Image Credit: BelieveNBooks In 2021, Natasha Agarwal was an eighth-grader with a concern that ‘too many children did not have books at home.’ Five years later, the school book drive she began has grown into ‘BelieveNBooks,’ a youth-led nonprofit that has donated more than 250,000 books and reached over 50,000 children in the United States and Africa. Its growth shows how one teenager’s love of reading developed into an effort to make books more accessible to young people who need them. The organisation has expanded through volunteers, community book drives and partnerships with groups working with children and families. Along the way, Agarwal has written a children’s book and helped build a network. Her story is not about collecting books. It is about turning a passion into an organisation that keeps growing, through partnerships and by reaching one child at a time.Meet Natasha Agarwal, a teenager whose school book drive grew into an international nonprofit The idea began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Agarwal came across news reports about children across the United States who had little or no access to books at home. The contrast with her own experience as so...