As technology continues to develop and the world becomes increasingly reliant on mobile devices for productivity and entertainment, reading has taken a back seat. According to a study by YouGov published in December, nearly half of all Americans (46%) did not read a single book in 2013.
You wouldn’t think that was the case if you were at Pitman High School on Saturday.
That morning, the south and east parking lots were nearly full as community members attended the second annual Reading Extravaganza, an event hosted by Fresno-based nonprofit Reading Heart in coordination with the Turlock Unified School District and the Amazon MCE1 warehouse in Turlock. Founded by 17-year-old Danay Ferguson of Fresno, the organization's mission is to spread the joy of reading and improve literacy in communities across the country.
Ferguson and her family arrived to Pitman roughly two hours before the event began in a storage truck filled with over 55,000 books of all genres for all age groups. They estimated there to be 3,000 people who showed up throughout the day. Each person was given a small bag to fill with books for them to take home, free of charge. Each bag was able to fit 10-15 books.
“It’s great to see everybody excited about books and reading,” Ferguson said. “It makes me feel happy knowing that I'm getting closer to reaching my goal, making sure every child has a book.”
Reading Heart accepts donations from the community. Those books are then re-donated to individuals in need or at special events like the Reading Extravaganza. The organization has collected over 1.2 million books and has donated more than 700,000 since they launched.
“California is like the seventh or eighth most illiterate state in the country. And the Central Valley is one of the most illiterate areas in the country,” said Ferguson’s father, Dwayne. “The main reason why is because people don't have access to books. Danay started the organization to make sure that every kid has access to books and to change those literacy statistics.”
Children in attendance were also offered free bags full of school supplies, courtesy of the Amazon MCE1 warehouse. Bags included notebooks, pencils, highlighters, markers and crayons amongst other supplies. Patricia Vega of the warehouse said it took a small group roughly 80 hours to organize and package the goodie bags.
Craig Norris is the general manager of the Turlock facility, and Reading Heart is particularly meaningful to him. He first partnered with the organization in 2021 as the GM of the Fresno fulfillment center.
“I did events with him in Fresno a lot of times. It was single-school events, so it was on a much smaller scale. I talked to Dwayne about Reading Heart coming to Turlock, and we wanted to include the entire community. Alongside Turlock Unified, we were able to make it happen. It’s open to kids from all schools and all community members.
“Reading Heart is an organization focused on the literacy of children and providing free reading supplies to children. I think it's fantastic. I’m truly impressed with what the organization does, and we’re so happy that they're willing to come all the way from Fresno to partner with us to give back to our local community here in Turlock.”
Supporters of this year’s event also included the City of Turlock Police Department, Kiwanis of Greater Turlock, Turlock Sports Park, Aspiranet Turlock, Turlock Costco, Raising Canes, Lays, Starbucks, Burner Custom Designs and Over Color Design and Prints.
“We are incredibly grateful to Danay and her family with Reading Heart for bringing this here and to all the community organizations that helped make the event possible,” said Marie Russell, TUSD director of communications, family engagement and outreach.
Those interested in supporting Reading Heart can make donations at ReadingHeart.org.
“This is all community driven,” Dwayne said. “The more support we get from the community, the more support we can give back to everybody, making sure they have books.”
