Children’s book drive to support families affected by Eaton fire

Aurora Anaya, originally from Boyle Heights, aims to bring light and healing to families impacted by the Eaton fire through the power of books. 

The devastation in Los Angeles united many to uplift others who endured disaster. After experiencing people coming together to provide aid, Anaya brought it upon herself to do something to help others. 

She organized the Comfort Through Stories & Play: Children’s Book Drive campaign for children and youth. It started on Tuesday, January 14, and will run through February 9. 

The campaign is seeking book donations (in both English and Spanish) such as picture books, chapter books, middle grade and young adult books that are new or in new condition. Other supplies include board games, new art supplies and new activity books. 

As of Wednesday, January 22, 770 books have been donated. 

A GoFundMe fundraiser is available for financial contributions and will remain open beyond the end of the campaign for those who would like to contribute books, art supplies and board games for classrooms and camps. 

The donations are being distributed in partnership with the YMCA and L.A. Parks and Rec to support families impacted by the Eaton Fire. 

“So, as many of us in L.A., after trying to process the shock of what was happening a few weeks ago with the fires both in Pacific Palisades and the Pasadena, Altadena area, I was inspired by how many folks volunteered and really took up causes to fundraise for the different needs that the families in these communities have,” Anaya said. 

Currently, there are five donation sites for book and supply drop-offs. That includes: 

• BLVD MRKT, 520 Whittier Blvd., Montebello CA 90640

• Ground Up Coffee, 871 North Garfield Ave., Montebello, CA 90640

• Soy Concha Bakery, 6164 Whittier Blvd., East L.A., CA 90022

• Kismet Coffee 3609, 1st St., East L.A., CA 90063

• Mugs Coffee Roasters, 11114 Whittier Blvd., Whittier, CA 90606

Anaya reached out to these businesses for the possibility of having them be part of the campaign. All of them gave her a quick response saying yes and were ready to help. 

“As a former small business owner and now launching a small business here in L.A., I feel it's very what small businesses do in our communities. We come together, we rally. These are meeting points. These are places where people come together, whether it's a coffee shop, a brewery, or even to get your vegan pan dulce, which is also amazing to have in our community. So I'm very grateful to all five businesses that whether they knew me or not, said yes to being a part of the campaign,” Anaya said. 

But why a book drive? For Anaya, bringing people together through books has been her superpower. “Folks are writers, folks are builders, makers, and all of these skills are going to be needed moving forward to rebuild the community. So all of us need to bring our talents and our skill set to build community back again,” she said. 

This ties in directly to a project that’s been on Anaya’s mind since coming back to Los Angeles in 2016: a bookmobile she hopes to launch by this spring. 

“How amazing would it be if every neighborhood had an independent bookstore?” Anaya said.  She explained the areas in L.A. where no independent bookstores exist and the lack of green spaces overlap. “You start seeing the commonality between where bookstores exist and where they historically have not,” she said.

In the late 2000s, she moved to East Harlem in New York City where her love of books created a space for people to find literature by Latinx writers, La Casa Azul Bookstore. It operated from 2012 until 2015. 

“I feel like bookstores are important everywhere…to have books that represent my culture in a community like El Barrio, which is predominantly BIPOC as well as predominantly Puerto Rican Dominican, and when I was in New York, very much, also Mexican and Central American. That was important for me to have a bookstore with books that reflected the community that it was placed in,” Anaya said. 

“Books have really been there for me in a lot of ways. When I realized that I read my first book by a Latinx writer, I remember it very clearly. I was 12 years old. It was “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, a book that many of us know and love. That's when I realized that it was the first time in my 12 years of life that I had read a book that resonated with me on a different level, that had words in Spanish in it that culturally I could relate to. It had characters that I could visualize as folks in my own neighborhood, my own family, and even in myself,” she continued. 

Even though some of these books may be banned, including “The House on Mango Street,” they give a better understanding of someone’s culture.

“There is a term called mirrors and windows. In my case, “The House on Mango Street” became a mirror. I read it and it was reflecting back a part of me. Prior to that, I was reading into windows, looking into other worlds, and it gave me a sense of understanding of another life or another way of being,” Anaya said. 

“I read through “Sweet Valley High.” That whole series was about two blonde twins, very affluent, very different from the life that I was living at the time in Boyle Heights. But again, it was me looking into another world,” she continued.  

As a collector of children’s books, Anaya recommends these children’s book writers and illustrators:

• Christian Robinson

• Duncan Tonatiuh

• Jacqueline Woodson

• John Parra

• Monica Brown

• Matt de la Pena

For the book drive, books can also be shipped to Los Angeles by sending a message to Anaya at @novel.gardener via Instagram for the shipping address.  

The Comfort Through Stories & Play: Children’s Book Drive campaign will run through February 9.