MACON, Ga. — 12-year-old Emory Thompson sorts through her book collection. "You just kinda get sucked into the story," says Emory.
Emory's passion is reading. 3 years ago, she realized not every kid gets the chance to dive into these paper-bound stories. "The thought of other children not being able to access books easily just made me sad, so I just wanted to start this where other ones could receive ones easily."
Some kids don't have books at home or a way to get their hands on one, so Emory built a book box as a mini-library.
With the help of social media, flyers, and donation boxes at school, Emory collected about 1,000 books over the years for kids to take home permanently or just borrow.
Emory says her desire to keep giving grew when she needed a kidney transplant. "I'm happy that he would do that for me. I think it's also very cool that I have a piece of him inside me," says Emory.
She is talking about her dad.
A year ago, Emory needed a transplant because her kidneys weren't growing with the rest of her body. Her dad stepped in for surgery in March. They were a perfect match.
"It was a definite thing that I wanted to do and, obviously, chose to do, so I was very thankful that I could reach in and help her with something that she couldn't help herself with," says Brad Thompson, Emory's dad.
Just as Emory's dad helped her, she wants to do the same for other kids with no access to books.
Emory says, "Going through surgery is hard, and so this can help other people realize that they can get through things like that, too."
So Emory keeps building her collection, "for as long as I can do it," for all the other bookworms out there.
The book box collection is located at Strong Tower Church on Vineville Avenue.