Verona Sisters Want To Battle Poverty With Books

VERONA, NJ — A Verona High School student and her sister have joined the battle to help underprivileged children in Colombia escape poverty with education. Their weapons of choice? Books.

Karina Squilanti, a rising sophomore at VHS, and her sister, Juliana, recently became active with the Fundacion Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation), which works to provide a solid education for underprivileged children in Colombia by building schools, libraries, and public spaces for teaching, as well as for enabling communities to live a healthy lifestyle and escape poverty.

As part of an effort to assist the foundation collect new and used books for their Barranquilla campus library, the Squilantis are trying to collect and deliver 150 books - in English and Spanish - for reading levels preschool through the 3rd grade by October 15.

Karina Squilanti said that she and her sister plan to run lemonade stands at local community events to help raise cash to buy books, and will also set up donation bins for gently-used children’s literature.

They have also established an online fundraising campaign, which can be seen here.

“We hope that this small gesture gives the children of these communities access to quality reading and enjoyment, straight from the heart of New Jersey,” the Verona residents wrote.

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Photo via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner