The Connection
Before we were born, our parents designed our house. They opted to omit the dining room and replace the space with a library. Both of our parents are voracious readers and felt having a cozy area to be surrounded by books would be perfect for their family. Our mom placed baskets filled with books on the floor of every room in the house to allow us easy access to reading at all times. We could crawl over to the baskets and look at the words and pictures - or just chew on the corners of the books! As a result, we both became avid readers from an early age. From the time our parents could hold us on their laps, they spent hours every day reading to us. We could recite many books word-for-word before we could actually read due to our parents reading them over and over to us. Books inspired us, delighted us, transported us, and expanded our small suburban world infinitely. Books have always been a part of our lives and have been the greatest contributing factor to our love of learning. Books also provided us with a safe haven when both of our parents experienced life threatening illnesses. We believe books should be a staple in the lives of all children to provide them with hope for the future, respite from the challenges of life, and the knowledge and confidence to change the world.

About Us
We are Ava and Emery Carlson and have lived in the Chicago suburbs our entire lives. We attend Saint Francis High School in Wheaton, Illinois, and participate in tennis, swimming, Math Team, Scholastic Bowl, Culinary Club, Student Government, the Student Ambassador Leadership Team, the Student Ministry Team, and other school-related activities. Our family currently has four dogs, all rescued, and we volunteer at a horse rescue, Casey's Safe Haven. We enjoy spending time on Lake Delavan in Wisconsin, traveling to National Parks, exploring different cultures abroad, and binge-watching our favorite TV shows on Netflix.

The Influence of Our Family
Our love of volunteering stemmed from our parents. Ever since we can remember, they have been taking us to soup kitchens, animal shelters and everything in between. However, the true inspiration for them and eventually us, was our grandmother Diana De Meyer, who passed away on June 6th, 2018. Although she is no longer physically with us, we decided to keep her memory alive by delving more into what she centered her life around: helping others. She began her legacy as a social worker, welcomed friends and strangers into her home and life, and made everyone feel heard. On the first year anniversary of her death, people reached out to our mother and told her they would commit small acts of kindness as a tribute to her. In Books for the Bush, we want to carry on her legacy of making a positive difference in the lives of others.    

How We Started
We traveled to Kenya, Africa, in the spring of 2019 and visited a Samburu village while we were there. During part of our visit to the village, we traveled to a Samburu school where we learned about the life and education of the village children and donated textbooks. While speaking with the headmaster, we found out that the school and students were lacking in age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books. After returning home to Chicago, we saw all the opportunities in education we received and wanted to help give the Samburu children the same chance to increase their knowledge.

The Process
First: The Name
​We chose Books for the Bush because the region we visited, where the Samburu people live, is called the Bush.
Second: The Donations
Used books were something everyone we knew already had in their homes and could easily donate.
Third: The Shipping
From our home in Chicago, we needed a way to transport books to the children in the village. We decided that our non-profit would gladly accept both books and monetary donations for postage costs.  ​