Montreal West Island teen donates 1,000 books to library, hospital
CBC
Benjamin Leiner loves reading. Now, he's sharing that love with other children by donating 1,000 books he collected over three weeks.
Inspired by an initiative he saw in Boston, the Kirkland teen started the donation project ahead of his 13th birthday and bar mitzvah.
"I feel really proud and happy the whole community could come together in such a way that everyone wants to give books," Leiner said.
Some books he collected were of such good quality, they looked like they were practically new.
"I read a couple of them, but I didn't keep any because I want to give them all," he said. "There were some [of] really good quality, in good condition, and it's going to help a lot of people."
He will be donating all 1,000 children's books he collected across the West Island to local hospitals and shelters. More than 200 books are going to the Montreal Children's Library.
Pinfang Lu, interim head librarian at the Montreal Children's Library, says she was surprised to receive an email from someone who wanted to donate so many books, especially considering Leiner's age.
"I was very amazed and I felt a bit honoured that Benjamin had chosen our library to donate the books to for his project, and I admire him a lot," she said.
Vivian Bejerman, Leiner's mother, said her son took charge of the project.
"He called organizations such as this library to see if there was a need and when there was, he would email and set up appointments," she said. "My job was just driving."
Within a weekend after posting about the project on Facebook, Leiner received 500 books.
Bejerman, her daughter and Leiner collected, sorted and delivered donations, which turned into a bonding experience.
"It was fun when he learned how to use Google Sheets to classify English and French books or make a list of the organizations and decide what would go where," Bejerman said. "It was a lesson in Excel and Sheets, which I like to work in, too, so it was fun to work on that together."
Leiner and his family have already delivered books to Sainte-Justine Hospital and Chai Lifeline. Deliveries to the Salvation Army and Nova Thrift shop will be sold with proceeds going toward helping people pay hospital expenses.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.
Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.