The International WeLoveU Foundation and Pinterest donated 380 books to New York City Public School 005, The Ellen Lurie School, on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. This initiative was sponsored by the Latin@ Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Pinterest in celebration of Latiné Heritage Month to advance literacy and encourage reading among elementary school students. In total, 630 books were donated between New York City and San Francisco.   

Arrival and Prep 

The WeLoveU and Pinterest volunteers arrived at the school bright and early to prepare the books for the students. Volunteers unpacked and categorized the books by grade level with the help of the school’s librarian. In attendance was Assistant Principal Calisma Callwood, who expressed her gratitude by saying, “We are very honored and grateful for the opportunity, and thank you so much for choosing P.S 5 to share the wonderful reading material and books with our boys and girls with our community here in Manhattan.”  

Donation of Books to the School

“As part of celebrating Latiné Heritage Month and our Raizces, Latin@ and WeLoveU collaborated in supporting the power of education and uplifting the next generation through a book drive,” said Latin@ ERG leads.  

While waiting for the fifth-grade students to arrive at the library, volunteers loaded up carts to distribute the books to the rest of the school. Volunteers went from floor to floor, allowing the teachers to choose books according to their grade level. The teachers chose a combination of English, Spanish, and bilingual books to distribute to their students.   

Read-Aloud Session  

In addition to donating books, the Pinterest Latin@ ERG and WeLoveU volunteers hosted a read-aloud session for the fifth-grade students. The students were broken up into three groups throughout the library, each group consisting of a Pinterest employee and several WeLoveU volunteers. All of the students were attentively listening to the stories being read while excitedly waiting to receive their new books.   

First-time volunteer with the WeLoveU Foundation, Sneha Tripathi, shared her experience by saying, “I am pleasantly surprised how the Foundation is involved with the community. I look forward to being part of more events.” WeLoveU will continue to host more events in our local community to support students through educational initiatives.