Bridge to Asia -- National Geographic Drives

In 1998, Eagle Scout Seth Grahm collected more than 100 boxes of books for us as part of his Eagle Scout project. At the completion of his project, he wrote this letter to us:

I contacted all the public and private schools in the area. They were [sic] very generous and I collected boxes of old math, science, and nursing books to name a few. After I had collected from the schools, my project found its way into the local news paper, The Sheboygan Press, and I had calls pouring in from the community about books people were willing to donate. I received many National Geographic (you won't believe how many can build up in peoples houses! One family donated issues from 1955 -1997 complete!), old college texts, and classical literature.
After the amount of books exceeded my ability to package with boxes from our recent move, I went to a local packaging company to ask for a donation of cardboard boxes. They gladly donated fifty some boxes to my cause. Fortunately I used all those boxes and still had to scrape up a few more from my garage and basement. The total boxes of books I had collected exceeded 100! (105 to be exact)
A group of 17 people from my church youth group came to help package them all. It took about 2 hours to sort through and pack the books. Once the books had been packaged, I contacted several local shipping companies before I found a willing company to take the books to the Bridge to Asia drop-off point in Chicago.
The truck came to my garage and a few friends, and my brothers and I set about putting the books on pallets (six of them) and...I never saw the books again. They're in a better place now.... going to a better use I mean.... It was kind of a hassle to go to peoples houses and to colleges all summer to collect boxes of books, but it was fun and very worth the effort. People were so generous. They really wanted to help and were excited about your program. I know that the books have gone to good use, and are no longer cluttering up schools and homes, but now filling up libraries and schools where they'll actually be used. It's a good feeling to know that I helped turn someone else's trash into anothers tool of knowledge. One person really can make a difference! I'm thankful that I had stumbled upon the Bridge to Asia program.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Seth Graham, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

We congratulate Seth on his achievement!

Click on the thumbnails below to see photos of the drive.

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