Going the ‘whole hog’ with Hindi’s Libraries

“I’m right and you’re wrong, I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Growing up, we’re often put in our place by people who believe they know what’s best, simply because they’re older and have had more experiences throughout their lives. While in certain situations this may be true, sometimes we’ll meet people younger who remind us just what life is all about. 

After establishing Hindi’s Libraries with my co-founder, Dovid Kanarfogel, we quickly realized that the manpower to execute our mission was simply not there. While we received volunteer assistance from a few friends, we nevertheless found ourselves drowning in books that had to be reviewed, labeled, sorted and packaged. 

Along came a group of high school seniors, known as our Bunch o’ Bookworms, who jumped at the opportunity to help. While I’ve known most of these teens for several years, I did  not  know how much of an impact they’d have on me. Never did I think that sifting through books with a group of teenagers would become the highlight of my week. 

In a time when many of us, as parents, constantly worry about our children’s future, these young ladies give me hope. Their continued dedication to our organization has been evident from the very beginning. When they can be at the mall or movies enjoying their senior year of high school, they instead choose to spend countless hours sorting and labeling books each week or baking multiple desserts for a fundraiser they coordinated. These 17- and 18-year-olds give me faith that my children can too know the value of giving and kindness. 

So, I think Mr. Harry Wormwood from the Matilda story had it all wrong. I think we need to take a step back and learn from our children to remind ourselves just how much good we’re capable of doing, because sometimes, as grown ups, we tend to lose ourselves and forget what really matters.

Let our Bunch o’ Bookworms remind you to “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog” — Roald Dahl, Matilda author.