Humber book sale raises $1,660 for charity in one day

Mar 10, 2020 | News

The ECE student council book sale on March 6 raised more than $1,600 for a Rexdale charity. (Kajal Mangesh Pawar)
Kajal Pawar

Humber College’s Early Childhood Education program raised more than $1,660 for an underprivileged children charity in the Rexdale Community.

ECE Student Council organizes a one-day book sale annually at Humber’s North campus to raise money for local charities. The event took place on March 6 this year.

“The money we raise goes towards an organization in our community,” said Pina Leo, who runs the ECE Resource Centre and has been organizing this event for the past 10 years.

Students of the program vote to decide which of nominated organization receive the donations, she said.

Trust 15, a non-profit group that provides youth mentorship, the Breakfast Clubs, which provide healthy meals to children, and a local school were the nominated charities.

“I feel this is a great community building for our students, this is all run by students — and they really enjoy doing it,” Leo said. 

Pina Leo (sitting on the right) with a team of student reporters. (Kajal Mangesh Pawar)

The book sale offered a wide array of soft and hardcover books ranging from infant and toddler, children, adult fiction, non-fiction and Canadian magazines.

Located on E building Main Concourse, the book sale captured the attention of students from various programs.

“I just bought Dennis Lehane’s Sacred,” said Mohit Christian, a student from the Electronics Engineering program. “The book sale was great, the price at which I got the book was insane. They are selling books at $2, that is amazing,”

Every item sold was marked less than $4 and more than 500 books were sold. Books are collected by students and faculty members of Humber College North campus.

“With this book sale here, I think it is an amazing idea. It really engages with the Humber College community and the ECE student council with raising money,” said Arin Cunanan, a Professor in the ECE program, which prepares students to work with children and their families.

Jessica Goncalvez, a student in the ECE program, believes the book sale is a great way for students to gather supplies for their field because the donations are from students themselves.

“It is a great opportunity for us to come together, and also good for us to know what age groups the books are good for, having that knowledge going into the field,” Goncalvez said.