News and Project Updates
December 21st, 2020—
Holiday Smile Boxes
At Sharing Our Stories, we work to not only represent marginalized communities, but connect with underserved constituents. In collaboration with the Kenneth Young Center, Dupage Habitat For Humanity, and Youth Advocates for Change, Sharing Our Stories donated 25 Smile Boxes to youths residing at the Oasis Mobile Home Park (in Des Plaines, IL) and in Greenbrook Tanglewood (an unincorporated residential community in Hanover Park, IL).
Thank you to Parveen, Jasmin, Faith, and Manjit (some of our lovely board members and officers) for purchasing 50+ toys and games, 20+ coloring books, 10 hats, 25+ pairs of gloves, 40+ boxes of various coloring utensils, and more! They have also allocated 90 books from the Season of Giving Book Drive donations for the Boxes.
December 5th, 2020—
The Gift of Reading Book Drive
S&J Book Collection (a dynamic duo of high school seniors from the Northwest Suburbs) hosted a book drive on behalf of our organization. We received 408 books, surpassing our goal of 300, and our team is in the process of cataloging to determine their usability in our programs.
Let’s break down the numbers of what we received:
* 207 books for K-12 readers (e.g. chapter books),
* 121 books for adult readers (e.g. fiction);
* 38 information books (e.g. cookbooks)
* 35 other books (e.g. magazines);
and 7 unusable (overly damaged) books.
November 8th, 2020— Be The Change in Your Community Webinar
Parveen, a co-founder and the President of Sharing Our Stories, spoke as a panelist at a webinar hosted by Dear Asian Youth. Touching upon her work with anti-racism and providing advice for up-and-coming changemakers, she was joined by the founders of Diversify Our Narrative and CUSD Against Racism.
September and October 2020— Pass The Perspective
In collaboration with Brown Kids Read, Pass the Perspective was a campaign dedicated to sharing the narratives of BIPOC through children’s literature. Through this project, we affirmed the presence and voices of BIPOC children by providing a platform for representation. Participants were able to share their favorite inclusive reads with other children!