Hope Lutheran School eighth-grader Bryson Albers is asking for your help this Sunday afternoon, in a donation drive for Books for Africa. Here’s the announcement Bryson sent:

Ever since I was young, I have loved reading! It has inspired much creativity in me and taught me many concepts that I otherwise would have not known. Did you know that Africa has a ‘book famine’? I am working toward changing that. I want to collect at least 300 books to send to ‘Books for Africa’- so that I can help bring this same creativity and passion to young people in Africa. Unfortunately, many young people in Africa do not have access to books but ‘Books for Africa’ aims to fix this. Books for Africa have already delivered 50,000,000 books to people in Africa (across 38 countries) and hope to deliver 50,000,000 more. I am looking for book donations of (one, two, or many!) that meet Books for Africa’s requirements (see below). Books can be new, gently used, and Textbooks or Library books are welcome as well. You can come to my book drive which will be going from 12:00-3:00 on Sunday, March 21st. You could also donate money directly to the Books for Africa website. In order to keep track of the money, it would be good if you donated it in honor of me so I know how much is donated.

Books For Africa accepts:

popular fiction and nonfiction reading books (soft and hard cover).
books that are 15 years old or newer.
primary, secondary, and college textbooks (soft and hard cover) published in the last 15 years.
reference books published in the last 10 years, except encyclopedia sets.
medical, nursing, and IT books published in the last 10 years.
some Bibles or religious books, please place them in a box separate from other donations and mark the box as “Religious texts.” Bibles are sent only when requested by African recipients.
School/office supplies—paper, pencils, pens, wall charts, maps, etc.

Books For Africa does NOT accept:

Encyclopedia sets
Magazines or journals of any kind, including academic journals.
Home decorating or wedding books.
Cookbooks.
Ethnocentric books, such as the biography of Abraham Lincoln or the history of Ohio.
Foreign language books except for French books. French novels and dictionaries are welcome.
American history or civics.
Music books for K–12.
Murder mysteries or anything with “kill,” “die,” “murder,” etc. in the title.

The dropoff donation drive will be Sunday (March 21st), noon-3 pm, in the Hope Lutheran parking lot, alley entrance off SW Oregon just east of 42nd SW.