We Empower Volunteers

Matthew Bordenstein (class of '24) lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which has been designated as the 12th Certified Welcoming Place in America and has a vibrant and growing refugee community. Matthew has collected over 10,000 books which he donates through partnerships across the city and beyond. As Bookworm's Refugee Specialist, Matthew has been training teens across the U.S so that new Americans in their communities can benefit from increased access to literacy and educational materials. Matthew and volunteers from his Bookworm Global club participate in various refugee community events throughout the year, kicking off each summer with World Refugee Day, where they donate books to thousands of newcomers to Pittsburgh.States.  

Chloe (class of '24) joined us after doing independent research on Bookworm Global's impact through the WISL institute. Their research revealed that our book donations are changing attitudes about reading and increasing the amount of time families reading at home.  Chloe will assume the role of lead Research Ambassador at Bookworm Global and helm our investigation into how our donations can foster literacy.  

Will (class of '25) helped collect and sort thousands of books. He loves reading and talking about books with his family. Will promotes recycling books to benefit the environment and because he is concerned about education equity and the growing educational gap increased by the pandemic.  Will has recruited volunteers and organizations to participate in book drives.  

Noa (class of '24) is a bibliophile and aims to encourage others to find her same love of reading and collecting books. Noa has great intentions to improve literacy rates throughout her city and beyond by creating innovative book campaigns. She gathered over 900 books in her first drive to create a lending library for an underserved school. She is currently a high school student who has participated in multiple book clubs and reading challenges. She is interested in film, architecture, and production design.  Noa has collected just under 3000 books and participated in 5 book drops at schools throughout Los Angeles.  Noa also manages out Tik Tok presence.  

Ella  (class of '26) is a dystopian YA enthusiast. She has collected over 1000 books in Riverside, CA.  Ella is on the leadership council at her school and looks forward to leading an in-person book drive when school resumes.  Ella enjoys volunteering with Bookworm Global during the pandemic. 

Eden (class of '26) enjoys science fiction and dystopian novels and is featured here with her favorite book.  Eden completed a very successful book drive around International Literacy Day and enjoyed it so much that she plans to do a holiday book drive.  She aims to donate books to children in underserved communities as part of their holiday gifts.  She hopes that receiving a book will inspire more kids to read. 

Sarah (class of '23) is a nationally recognized Girl Scout and our liaison for service groups. Sarah will be working specifically with Girl Scouts to get a literacy patch approved. She is responsible for helping improve training and marketing materials, customized by age, for Girl Scout Troops. Sarah hopes to expand the reach of Bookworm Global through Girl Scouts.  

Based in New York, Xena is passionate about reading and community service.  She recently worked with the NHS at her school to do a book drive and they collected so many books that they had to find additional recipients.  

Shivi is the founder and president of the Bookworm Global chapter at Clark High School in Plano, Texas. She started the club in February 2023 and collected hundreds of books.

TJ Penn is a senior (Class of '23) at Notre Dame High School. TJ started out as a volunteer helping to coordinate book drives throughout LA. He was so inspired by our mission and impact that he asked if he could do more. TJ is an aspiring tv and film editor/creator and serves as our Ambassador/Director of Strategic Media. He creates video and other content for our website and social media channels. He is passionate about helping the environment, and advocating for literacy and education equality. His video content will help with outreach to potential volunteers and ambassadors across the country and help educate about book bans of LGBTQ+ books. 

Sriya (class of '22) is our first ambassador from Seattle, Washington. She is a High School Junior and has experience volunteering at two KCLS libraries in King County. She is excited to continue supporting budding readers, though libraries are closed during COVID. She has collected 2000+ books already and has done an interview with an author who donated to her first drive.

Ameerah (class of '22) is a philanthropic filmaker who partners with Bookworm Global to help remove educational barriers for children in underserved communities. Ameerah raised thousands of dollars by tutoring and used the proceed to buy headsets for schools in Los Angeles for online schooling. Delivering headsets and books to schools helps battle the twin issues associated with online learning, distraction and educational slide. Ameerah will be delivering books to India for Bookworm Global Summer 2021.  Ameerha will also be filming documentaries and promotional videos for Bookworm Global and our partners.