Edward Becerra has always loved reading books and as he’s gotten older, he truly believes they are the tools needed to unlock a child’s future.
That’s why in 2015, after learning that 68 percent of Third Graders weren’t reading at their Third Grade level, he decided to do something.
He says, “I've never worked in the field of education but i thought well that's terrible what can someone who's never been in education improve the literacy level for our youth?”
So, he created the non-profit “Education Begins in the Home,” where he collects donated books from different schools, civic organizations, and members of the community, and gives them out for free to children and young adults at different events around the North County.
Since the beginning of the program, the organization has given out a quarter of a million books at nearly a thousand events.
Getting all of the books is just half the battle the next big task is sorting them out by age and language. And then they top it off with a personalized tag.
He says, “to be able to see and hand a child a book and see the happiness on their faces it's just overwhelming.”
And while Edward continues to look for opportunities to reach out to different neighborhoods. He’s hopeful others will join him in his effort to keep his non-profit going, working to get kids excited about reading.
He says, “There's a lot of work . and I'm always looking for volunteers to help me.”
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