A new book is a powerful thing. It can take you to exciting, faraway places. It can make you laugh or it can make you cry. Tzu Chi Foundation volunteers in southern California embarked on the third year of A Gift of Books, a book-giving program designed to inspire students, encourage reading, and support neighborhood public elementary schools.

The fleet of cars left Los Angeles and entered surrounding satellite towns. Further out, there were tiny villages with very few businesses. These places weren't too far away from Los Angeles, but life there was completely different.

San Bernardino, about two and a half hours east of Los Angeles, is one of the poorest places in the United States. More than eighty percent of the residents are farmers. Because the town is located on desert land, its agricultural products are rather limited. Tzu Chi volunteers from southern California have been carrying out free clinics for years at this place and have become attached to the city and its people.

Due to their family financial situation, schoolchildren in the city are eligible to receive free school lunches. That means that these students can't even afford a lunch that costs less than two dollars. A teacher told us that many of these children even come to school on Saturdays, because their homes are too poor to afford food. If they come to school, they can at least have lunch.

Tzu Hung, a Tzu Chi volunteer, discovered that many of the parents of these students do odd jobs to make a living, so they don't have steady incomes. Furthermore, families often have many children. Teachers told her that the schools were short of books and that the students didn't have enough books for themselves, which affected their reading ability.

Tzu Lun, director of Charitable Programs and Services at the Tzu Chi US headquarters, went to visit these poor schools and discovered that their libraries had not obtained any new books in years.

The city has twelve elementary schools. After some evaluation, the volunteers chose the four poorest schools for the book-giving program.

For these children to have their own books was like a dream come true. Tom, a student from Ascot Avenue Elementary School, held his book to his chest and shouted, "I'll read it every day!"

A staff member from that school said sadly that the children in the city were the forgotten ones. Their families were poor and couldn't make a habit of reading. Some families didn't even have a book at home. The extra-curriculum reading materials from Tzu Chi were precious gifts for these children.

Tzu Lun told us that at the beginning, when people heard that Tzu Chi was a Buddhist organization, many of them believed the book-giving program was for religious propaganda and simply rejected the books.

A Gift of Books 2002

Armed with the endless possibilities that new books can offer, Tzu Chi Foundation volunteers in southern California embarked on the third year of "A Gift of Books," a book-giving program designed to inspire students, encourage reading, and support the neighborhood's public elementary schools.

June 2002 was a busy month for the volunteers who participated in the book-giving program. After spending months contacting principals and teachers, the Tzu Chi volunteers in the eight Southern California volunteer teams were full of anticipation. As each team received boxes of books in the mail, volunteers gathered to place a personalized Tzu Chi bookplate in each book. The bookplate was carefully designed with the Tzu Chi logo and decorated with leaves from the bhodi tree, a symbol of enlightenment. Blades of grass hover at the bottom, symbolizing newness and growth. However, the most important element is the line that reads, "This book belongs to ______." Each child will fill in his or her own name on the blank line.

Last December, southern California Tzu Chi volunteers visited the homes of over 750 families to distribute Holiday Care Packs. Many volunteers were surprised to discover that in each of the homes, hardly any books were to be seen. Social workers and teachers who joined us on these visits explained that when parents are financially limited, they are least likely to splurge on books. With this thought in mind, it was decided that in the third year of "A Gift of Books," every child would receive his or her very own book to take home.

This year, 22 school districts comprising 80 schools were included in "A Gift of Books," a tremendous expansion from the original four schools. The schools were spread throughout greater Los Angeles, to San Diego in the south, San Bernardino in the east, and as far north as the city of Lamont. Each student in each participating school was guaranteed to receive a brand-new book. This amounted to roughly 80,000 books with a retail value of US$350,000. The books were chosen from the most popular titles in each grade level. Of course, favorites like Harry Potter and Goose Bumps were included.

For Team 3, led by Tzu Chi volunteer Elaine Lin, June was definitely packed with excitement. Elaine remembers trying to contact a new school without much luck. After a brief phone call, she was not sure if this particular school was interested in receiving new books for its students. But instead of giving up, Elaine remembered that the books were not for the administrator or for the teachers. They were a gift for the children. How could she give up just because of one small obstacle? With this reasoning, Elaine wrote a fax clearly explaining the purpose of the book-giving program and followed it up with a phone call. This time, she was successful. Team 3 was able to provide books to ten schools on their list this year.

On June 6, Team 3 was ready to give 691 books to Pleasant View School in the city of Baldwin Park. "How many of you love to read?" a Tzu Chi volunteer asked the 691 children. All hands went up. "How many of you love new books?" The crowd responded with even more excitement. The volunteer continued, telling the story of Master Cheng Yen, the founder of Tzu Chi. She explained that it was the spirit of compassion and the idea of helping others that started the foundation. Then the children were taught the meanings of the Chinese words, "tzu" and "chi." "How many of you are kind?" Many hands went up. "'Tzu' means compassion or kindness. And how many like to help others or have others help you?" Children looked around at each other, hands shot up and many nodded their heads. "Well," the volunteer explained, "'chi' means to help or to provide relief. Let's say the two words together: Tzu Chi."

For the grand finale, the children were told to cover their eyes in anticipation of a great surprise. At the sound of the music, the children were invited to open their eyes and greet a familiar character: Clifford, the Big Red Dog. From books and television cartoons, the students clearly knew who Clifford was. After receiving books from Tzu Chi for three consecutive years, the children now knew that whenever they saw Clifford, Tzu Chi members would be there. One child even asked his teacher whether Clifford came from Taiwan. It seems that this giant, red dog has become the spokesperson for the Tzu Chi book-giving program in southern California. Clifford taught the children how to behave with courtesy and respect around others. Mr. Hsieh, the Tzu Chi volunteer who dressed up as Clifford, told the other volunteers that the character was a big hit. For him, it was a priceless experience to put on the costume. Through the eyes of Clifford, Mr. Hsieh saw the genuine love in the children's eyes. "To bring such joy to so many was a wonderful feeling."

For Mr. Hsieh and many other Tzu Chi volunteers, this was the first year that they went out to give books to schools. "A Gift of Books not only allowed us to give brand-new books directly into the hands of children, but more importantly it gave about a thousand volunteers the opportunity to be involved in the process," said Tzu Lun, director of Tzu Chi USA Charitable Programs and Services. "It is the personal interaction that allows each of us to know what it means to be compassionate, to know the joy in giving. This is the spirit of Tzu Chi."

Home visit

To extend the love of the program, Tzu Chi volunteers also carry out a home visit program. Before Christmas last year, for example, volunteers wrapped children's underwear, socks, blankets, canned food, cleaning items, gift certificates and other items and presented them to 750 especially poor families.

The book-giving program has gradually mobilized a force of goodness in the communities. Another volunteer, Tzu Hui, indicated that as more and more people understood what Tzu Chi was all about, they would also tell volunteers about any needy families in their communities.

In a trailer park in Los Angeles, there are thirty families of illegal Latino immigrants. Tzu Chi volunteers came to know them after visiting other poor families. These people live a hard life. Many of the families consist of single parents with many children. Tzu Chi is considering sending Collegiate Youth Association members to help the children with their homework.

Tzu Lun remarked that the book-giving program received many setbacks in its first year. However, due to the reports of teachers and students who have received books, more and more schools have asked Tzu Chi to send Clifford to bring books and visit the students at their schools. Some schools also invite Tzu Chi members to participate in their events.

It took over 3,000 volunteer hours to get 80,000 books to the children this year. Many other programs are in the planning for next year thanks to the efforts of southern California Tzu Chi volunteers. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Jean Hsu (Tzu Lun) at 626-305-1188.