2021 AAPI Month Book Donation

Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked 150 percent since the pandemic began. On March 16th, the whole Asian community was shocked and deeply saddened by the news that a gunman killed eight people in the Atlanta area and six of the victims were women of Asian descent. Back in history, people of Asian descent have been living in the United States for more than 160 years, and have long been the target of bigotry. In response to the racism against Asian Americans, STOP ASIAN HATE rallies have been held across the country since March 2021.

America is great because of her open liberal mind, attracting immigrants from all ethnic groups in the world, and uniting the efforts of all people. The Asian Hate is against such ideology and the rise of it has caused great concerns. The negative impacts would undermine the inclusive and diverse culture of the country and our community. To join the effort of STOP ASIAN HATE and promote diversity in our community, and help better understanding of Asian Americans, a group of more than 130 Asian American parents from the school District 203/204 decided to get together to do something for our local community.

As parents, colleagues, and neighbors, what could be a good way to help cultivate diversity, equality, and inclusion in our community? The parents decided to donate books that reflect the diversity of our society and world. A total of $4,000 were raised within the group and 400 books were purchased to donate to the 37 elementary schools in the Naperville area, with the hope that these books can help young age students to appreciate the contributions of Asian Americans to this nation, and empathize with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures. The event coincided with the month of May as the annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month to celebrate the contributions that generations of AAPIs have made to this country and our society, and received warm welcome by all the elementary schools in 203/203 district.

The book donation was initiated in late March. After a thorough search of books, eight titles were chosen and multiple copies were ordered for each school. Parents volunteers were organized to send books to school Principals and/or LMC directors at the end of April.  For each set of book donations, the parents also attached a letter expressing their thoughts and concerns on current situations, and their hopes of cultivating diversity and inclusivity for kids in their elementary age. The schools have responded with showers of thank-you notes acknowledging the effort in promoting cultural diversity and exchange in the community.