Eric Gan is the 19-year-old San Mateo student who founded Books4All. He fell in love with reading during his elementary school years and when he entered junior high, he decided to use his time and his talent to make sure others could enjoy reading too.
He started the organization in 2017 with the goal of raising funds to purchase and donate books to underfunded elementary schools. After careful research, he chose Sunnyslope and Calaveras Elementary Schools, two elementary schools over an hour away from his home in Foster City, California.
Through a Thanksgiving benefit concert, Eric raised over $1,300 and donated $1,000 in new books and school supplies, as well as 300 used books collected from friends and family, to Calaveras Elementary School in Hollister, CA. He was also able to deliver over $800 in school supplies and 100 books to Sunnyslope Elementary, a K-5 school located in the primarily rural community of Hollister, California.
When asked why he committed so much time in the service of the very young, Eric said “We donate books and other school supplies to underfunded schools in order to help these students achieve goals that otherwise would have been impossible.”
In April 2020, Eric was selected for a local Jefferson Award by Multiplying Good’s Media Partner KPIX.