the story | program guidelines | questions & contact
Hearts for Hearts: Building Community
One Book Donation at a Time
Share the healing power of story with those less fortunate. Donate books to local assistance groups!
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The Rumpus
Publisher's Weekly
USA Today
Readers Entertainment
Examiner
I'm so excited to be launching the Hearts for Hearts program, encouraging readers and author and industry friends to give back to their communities by donating books they already own to nearby assistance groups. Even if you have very little time and money—even if you have only a few books to give—you can participate in this exciting program. It’s amazing to see the instant excitement in peoples’ eyes when I share the concept of Hearts for Hearts, to hear the many fantastic ideas for places to donate books. I can’t wait to hear about the donation you make in your community!
Special thanks to Nancy Berland, Kim Miller, and the entire Nancy Berland Public Relations group for helping me launch such an amazing program!
the story behind hearts for hearts
In 2005, volunteering with the Salvation Army, I worked locally with Hurricane Katrina evacuees who’d made their way to aid centers in my northeast Atlanta suburb. These displaced families left their homes and lives behind with virtually nothing. And while financial, housing, and basic subsistence needs were being met by the professionals around me, I witnessed something magical happen each time I put a donated item like a book into the hands of people who no longer owned anything more than what they could carry away from New Orleans. The grateful smiles inspired by such simple gifts were breathtaking to me. My Katrina aid experience taught me that even if you have no money to donate, and even if your personal time is stretched to the limits and you can’t volunteer, you can still make a difference.
This experience made me think. What if each of us donated a small portion of our personal library to a facility that serves those who have very little of anything to call their own? With a little time and a generous heart, one-by-one this holiday we could share something dear to us and ultimately make a difference in someone’s life. These thoughts birthed the idea for my Hearts for Hearts program.
I would love for every reader nationwide to donate new or gently used books to homeless shelters, Medicaid nursing facilities or similar centers across the country as part of this Hearts for Hearts initiative. So many of us have books sitting around our homes collecting dust, when there are untold numbers of people who would love to experience the transformative power of story—only they can’t afford the luxury. That’s why I’m inviting each of you to join me in donating books.
And what better time than the holidays to begin donating books to our local assistance communities? My husband and I have already pledged to deplete our personal libraries, if we can find enough centers to take it all!
Won’t you join me in this cause? I’d love to have 1,000 books donated by Christmas, and I’d be thrilled to have at least one book donation in each of the fifty states by year’s end.
You’ll find a link to the program guidelines below. I’m kicking off my Hearts for Hearts program in a big way including a special sweepstakes on my Facebook author page. “Like†the page to enter to win.
I’ll also be sharing stories and photos from readers who have made book donations as part of the Hearts for Hearts program.
Thank you for joining me in this mission and for believing in the power of story.
~ Anna
program guidelines...
How to Get Started. Click each guideline for more details.
1. Gather your book donation.
How many should you donate?
As many as you like! We suggest you organize your donation by kinds of books—novels for men and those for women, Christian reading, children’s books, non-fiction, crafts, etc. Some organizations will want all your books; others might only be able to accept certain kinds. Do not worry if your books are old—the age of a book won’t be a factor for people who can’t afford to purchase them.
2. Find a recipient organization for your donation.
How do you find where to donate?
Here are some tips based on Anna’s experiences:
• As a starting point, Anna suggests you ask yourself which centers or organizations in your community serve people who are the neediest, the people who can’t afford to purchase their own books.
• Google/online search shelter listings in your community or county. Most often, there is central shelter information available, as well as links to shelters in various cities in your area. For example, here’s a listing for shelters near Anna, which she found through Google.
• Call your local YMCA and ask to speak to the director or the public information officer. Ask him/her if they can recommend donation opportunities in your community.
• The same with outreach staff at your local school (teachers are a GREAT resource), church, boys and girls clubs, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of America, etc.
• Speak with someone in law enforcement in your community. Most officers are aware of local charities that could benefit from donations, and most precincts have an outreach coordinator.
• Reach out through social media or email to family and friends—the ideas will flood in!
Suggested recipient organizations:
• Homeless centers or halfway houses
• Drop-in centers that provide services for the homeless
• Centers that support sober living
• Senior citizen centers or programs funded by either your city/county
• Nursing homes serving low-income residents
• Local not-for-profit organizations, such as churches
• YMCAs/YWCAs with after-school programs for financially disadvantaged
• YMCAs/YWCAs interested in a senior center reading library for fixed-income, elderly members
• Schools in low-income areas
• Children’s wings of local hospitals
• Homes for at-risk/foster families/children
• Events where organizations are already donating goods/services
• Veterans Administration hospitals
• Safe houses for victims of domestic violence
3. Call the center or organization to confirm their need for your books.
• Call the center you have selected and tell them you want to donate books. Ask them if they are receptive to such a donation.
• If they cannot accept your donation, ask if they know of another organization that would welcome your donation.
• Ask what kinds of books they would be receptive to receiving. Let them know what kinds of books you have and how many. For example, some homeless shelters do not serve children, so donating children’s books to them would not be appropriate. Some shelters are funded by religious organizations, which could affect what kinds of books they can accept.
• Ask when it would be convenient for you to drop by to make your donation.
• If you would rather make your donation by postal mail, ask if that would be an acceptable means of getting your books to their destination and ask for the mailing address.
4. Make the donation (the fun part!).
You will be amazed how good you will feel when you make your donation! If it “feels right†at the time, ask your contact if he or she would mind if you took a photo to share on Anna’s Facebook page and/or website. But a word of caution: It would most likely be inappropriate to include any residents, patients, students or clients of these facilities in a photo, and you will most certainly want to respect their privacy. An option would be to take a photo of the outside of the building with the name of the building on a sign.
5. Share your experience + number donated on Anna’s Hearts for Hearts Facebook page.
Share your donation story on Anna’s Facebook page! In the status bar, upload any photos you took during your donation, with a brief description about your experience. In your description, please include the number of books you donated, along with the center or organization receiving the book donations. Or, email pictures and a brief description about your book donation (including your name, city/state, number of books you donated, and to which center or organization) to HeartsforHearts@AnnaWrites.com. Anna will feature some of these stories on her website.
6. Groups Already Donated to
On December 2, Hope United hosted a ministry-based service project event for a Georgia-based mobile home park, where a local salon donated cuts and styles to families who couldn't afford to pay for them. My author friends, Debbie Kaufman and Sandra Elzie, and I donated home-baked cookies and books as part of my Hearts for Hearts book donation initiative.
We’re thankful to the local YMCA branch for letting us donate books for the senior’s and children’s libraries that will possibly serve as a mobile library prototype that can be shared with surrounding branches. My husband, son and I all donated from our personal libraries, and YA authors Maureen Hardegree and Gillian Summers also contributed.
My generous son, author friends Maureen Hardegree and Gillian Summers, and I were thrilled to donate children’s and young adult books to be given away, along with locally donated toys, to the Foster Kids Holiday event December 19 through the Loganville Community Ministry Village.
Shundricka Love, Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist at The Mental Health Association’s Oklahoma City Drop-in Center, cheerfully accepted boxes of books from Nancy Berland and Kim Miller of Nancy Berland Public Relations, Inc. on behalf of their author clients, who donated for the Hearts for Hearts initiative.
have a question we haven’t answered here?
Email your question to HeartsforHearts@AnnaWrites.com.
thank you for your generosity!
Together, linking Hearts for Hearts, we can make a profound difference in the lives of those less fortunate than us, creating community, one story at a time.
Hearts for Hearts guidelines in full
Hearts for Hearts press release
Facebook sweepstakes contest
