LOCAL FLAVOUR: SFU students bring new purpose to reading week
Joseph Choi, Alex Venetis and Steffi Chua have been hitting the books for three years at SFU's Beedie School of Business. Now they're collecting books for family's that can't afford them.
The BIG Book Drive started as an assignment for their project management class. But with the help of the Salvation Army, Literacy BC, Kin's Farm Market and Richmond Scouts, it's taken on a life. Over the next four weeks the students are hoping people around Metro Vancouver will cull their own book collections to be donated to the Salvation Army's family support services and literacy-related programs.
The drive will culminate March 19-20th when donors will be able to drop off the books they've decided they can part with at the Salvation Army's Divisional Headquarters in Burnaby.
"The books we have lying around at home can make a difference in someone's life," says Chua. "There are many children, teenagers and young adults who don't have access to books that can improve their literacy skills."
According to Literacy BC, 40 per cent of the province's adults don't have the literacy skills to fully participate and succeed in today's world; that's more than one million people.
Venetis says the group made cold calls to various organizations, and they hooked up with the Salvation Army because it already has programs in place to help increase literacy amongst low-income families and children. Books that can't be directed to those programs will be recycled.
To promote the drive, they built a website and have been actively posting to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
The BIG Book Drive welcomes all sorts of books, from children's books to novels, textbooks to magazines, although that collection of old Playboys collecting dust under the bed will go straight into a blue box.
For more information, including times and a map for the collection event, go to www.thebigbookdrive.com.
Nachos
Ingredients
1 bag of restaurant style nacho chips
1 1/2 cups Mexican salsa (375 ml)
250 g Monterray Jack cheese
1/4 cup jalapeno peppers in brine
250 g medium cheddar
Fresh cilantro for garnish
2 cups guacamole (500 ml)
Method
Put a layer of nacho chips on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with some salsa, cheese and jalapenos and then cover with another layer of nacho chips. Sprinkle with more salsa, cheese and jalapenos and then bake until cheese has melted and chips are golden. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve with sour cream, guacamole or salsa.
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