As I post this, 20 more books have been shipped from the Wish List, and I have personally shipped over 200 books.

My work is no where near done. I have many more people to beg for books and many more books waiting to be shipped. Those of you have been nice enough to send books or to purchase from the Wish List are wonderful beautiful human beings. I wish I could build a statue to each and every one of you. But, we are far from done here.

The goal is to keeping sending books until there is no more room to hold them. And boy, do we have a long way to go. That's what I love about setting a huge goal for myself. I have all the time in the world to achieve it. So, I will keep pestering the people I know and sending in the books I have begged from them. I will keep writing about the drive and waxing poetic about the books that I loved and still love. I will keep shipping whatever books I find in used bookstores and my bookshelves. I will keep sending a certain amount per month from the Wish List.

But what about you? What are you going to do to help these kids who are not asking for your help? I am asking on their behalf because they cannot ask you. So, are you going to do something? Do you want to do something? If you do, there are a few ways that you can help:

• Suggest a book for the Wish List. This is the easiest and least expensive way to help. I am continually updating the wish list. Have a look at it and suggest something. If you can't afford to send anything, then at least feel good for suggesting something.
• Send your own gently used books. Do you have books that are just sitting on your shelves never to be read again? Send them to the Oasis Youth Shelter. The address is: Lutheran Services Oasis Youth Shelter 3634 Central Avenue Ft. Myers, FL 33901
• Purchase a book from the Wish List. Most of the books are under 6 dollars. If you want to do a bunch of small priced books, use the Super Saver Shipping method (You basically get free shipping with any order over 25 dollars). It will take a little longer for the books to be received but, its the best way to get more book for your buck. I normally set an amount per month. This month was 50 dollars (we had a little extra money this month- its great to have my car paid off). With the Super Saver Shipping, I can send exactly that amount in books without having to pay extra for shipping. It makes it so easy to budget when you don't have to factor in shipping costs.
• Bookmark the Wish List. Even if you can't think of a book to add or have the money to purchase a book now, you never know when that might change. I can say from experience you never know when a childhood memory of a favorite book will sneak up on you. By bookmarking the list, you can check to see if its already there. If it isn't you can recommend it. Or, even better, you can purchase it.
• Contact me. If you have books but cannot afford to ship them, contact me. I will be willing to work with you to offset the cost of shipping. Just leave me a comment or drop me a line at chasitymoody[AT]ifeelpithy[dot]com.

If you can think of other ways to help, I'm listening. I am trying my best to not ask for monetary donations because Amy Palmer, the director of this particular shelter, is very busy and I am trying to put a minimum of stress and paperwork on her. Maybe next year she will have more time and we can work out some monetary logistics. I am hoping to work out a shipping method for those of you who cannot currently afford to ship your own books.

As I work on that, please review the other methods of helping. See if one of them suits you and go to it. I don't kid myself about the size of my readership. But, I do know that if only my few readers tell some of their friends about the drive, then we can work wonders.

Think of a child between the ages of 10 and 17. Think of yourself at that age. Did you read? Were there books that you held on to? Books that you read over and over? Or, did you read everything you could get your hands on? What was that book? What were those books? Can you imagine a version of yourself that didn't have the opportunity to read that book?

Do it. You will feel so good about yourself. And in the end it all comes down to how we feel about ourselves doesn't it? Do it. You won't regret it. I promise.