Local Youth Volunteer Efforts Leads to Appearance on Daytime TV!
Your name: Sophia Parekh
Family names: Nipa (Mom), Ketan (Dad), Shay (Brother)
Organization:
Sophia’s Book Stand
Contact Information:
I can be contacted on
Facebook or Instagram on my page @sophiasbookstand
First off, tell us a little about your family?
We moved to Westfield 4 years ago from NYC and I love it here! My dad works in Finance and he’s a pilot and can fly small planes, my mom works in marketing and also has her own business and brand called 1947 Craft Beer. I am 8 years old and I love reading, arts & crafts, singing and basketball. I have one younger brother Shay who is 6 years old and loves Ninja gymnastics, soccer, football and Legos. I love my family and I think they are the best.
What do you like about the town and your school?
I love the downtown, Mindowoskin park, my Girl Scouts troop and all the friends I made here.
I like all the people in my school, especially the specials teachers, my class and my amazing teachers.
Can you provide a bit of history on your kind efforts? What drew you to help out?
I started Sophia’s Book Stand to help get books to kids and teachers in low-income areas that don’t have money to buy books. At the beginning of the year, my mom and I were talking about how to help people during COVID because so many people didn’t have jobs or money. She asked me what I love to do and I said I love to read – then I came up with the idea of sending free books to kids so that they can love reading as much as I do. Kids need books! Reading takes you to magical places and the more you read, the more you learn and the smarter you get. I want to make sure all kids have books to read! In the eight months since I started, I have given out 3,250 books.
Tell us about your big day recently in NYC.
I was invited to be on the Drew Barrymore Show in NYC. They did part of my interview on zoom because at the show you had to keep your mask on and they wanted to see my face and hear my voice. When I got to the show for the rest of the interview, I was really excited they gave me my own dressing room. Drew Barrymore was really nice and she surprised me and another boy with a Build-A-Bear experience. She asked me about my organization and I was happy I got to share it with all the people that watch her show. If you want to watch it, you can go to YouTube and search Drew Barrymore Show Nov 16 2021 and you will see it.
Any other information you would like to include?
I would love if everyone reading this will follow me on Facebook or Instagram
@sophiasbookstand – I am hoping the more followers I get, the more people I will reach and be able to help. I also have a GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-sophia-get-books-to-kids-in-need# and I have been using the money to pay for shipping the books. And if anyone has books that are in like-new condition, especially for newborn to middle school age, they can donate them to me and I will make sure they get to kids in need.