Local youth creates book distribution organization

By Bruce Walton | August 4, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

Local man creates organization to give books to kids

YOUNGSTOWN

Gordon Coyier was always obsessed with education and helping people, and said he owed his intelligence to literature.

It came as no surprise, therefore, to his mother, Jennifer Marshall, when he founded Reads for Teens, an organization dedicated to giving books to children and teens in local, lower-income communities.

“I think its wonderful, especially for his age, wanting to help others get into reading more because nowadays, people are just about computers, cellphones and games,” she said.

The 20-year-old Youngstown native created the organization in July after meditating on ways to help educate the community.

Providing educational tools to a younger generation will give them the chance to do well in the community they will inherit, he said. Growing up on books himself, Coyier finds them to be the perfect way to help a growing mind.

“You give a kid several books, you turn on his passion for learning, and he’ll be on his path to success,” he said.

Reads for Teens is in the collection phase of its development, storing more than 100 books donated from family, friends, churches and thrift stores as well as money through a Go-fund-me account.

So far, he has contacted 12 local parks, libraries, churches, schools and other institutions to help reach his goal.

Upper Room Ministries, an Austintown church Coyier’s family attends, and Schulte’s Thrift Yard on Mahoning Avenue have donated the most to Reads for Teens. Diane Zawilinsky, wife of Upper Room Ministries’ pastor Steve Zawilinsky, said the church is behind Coyier’s mission.

“What he chose to do is just such a worthy cause, and we’re so thankful that he’s doing it,” she said. “We love children, and we want to see children read.”

Stephanie White, a local author and member of Upper Room Ministries, also donated an additional case of about 100 copies of her latest book, “Faith is Worth Fighting For,” to Coyier’s collection. The book is about people dealing with daily struggles with their faith, something children coming into adolescence can appreciate.

In the next few months, Coyier hopes to start giving out plastic take-home bags to every individual containing several books, hand-written letters and other things to motivate them to learn more.

The books are stacked and categorized at his home by genre, gender and age group. A junior at Eastern Community College, Coyier still plans on running the organization while studying to be a psychiatrist in the fall. People can help donate or volunteer by emailing readsforteens@gmail.com or visiting www.gofundme.com/readsforteens.

Within a decade, Coyier hopes to make Reads for Teens into an official nonprofit organization. He said as long as he’s able to receive books, he will keep giving them because of the value he sees in them.