Students Helping Students

Room to Read's Students Helping Students initiative was launched in 2005 after an overwhelming response from students wanting to help rebuild schools and libraries after the devastating tsunami in Sri Lanka. Since then, Students Helping Students projects have involved thousands of students and raised almost a million dollars for Room to Read programs in Asia and Africa!

Students Helping Students is a way for students, teachers and their communities to help Room to Read provide enhanced educational resources where it is needed most. By taking the initiative and starting fundraising projects at their school, church, or community group, students will cultivate valuable leadership skills as well as feel empowered that they can be agents of change in the world.

We encourage Students Helping Students participants to be as creative as they can when they are planning their fundraising projects. Over the years we have seen all different kinds of fundraisers: from Read-a-Thons that stretched across multiple schools to fairs, dances, book drives, even a Room to Read café! In order to help you get started, we have put together comprehensive, downloadable kits about our two most popular projects: Read-a-Thons (Adobe PDF, 4MB) and Book Drives (Adobe PDF, 3.5MB). You can also look through our page of Fundraising Ideas if you want some help brainstorming for your own unique fundraiser.

Chapters and chapter leaders can also be a great resource to see what other students are working on. Visit our Chapters page to find out more about our chapters and see if there is one in your city. Chapter leaders are volunteers who take time out of their already-busy schedule to help Room to Read connect with people around the globe. They can be wonderful, local resources to help you as you start building your project. If you do not live in one of these cities, don't worry! You can still have an incredibly successful Students Helping Students project.

Once you have come up with an idea, visit our Take Action page for tips on how to make your idea come to life. Then, gather the appropriate resources and...

Go for it!!

We can't wait to see what you come up with. Everything you do will be helping a child in the developing world. You are truly making a difference!

We are here to help. If you have any questions, please visit our Frequent Questions page. If you still have questions, you can email us at shs@roomtoread.org.

Thank you for your passion, enthusiasm, and creativity! Together we can break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.