Sisters from Bellmore share the gift of reading

Over the past month, the garage of the Silver family in Bellmore has been packed to the ceiling with cardboard boxes filled with thousands of books. On Tuesday, the books were set to be loaded into vans and shipped out for charity.

The collection was spearheaded by sisters Athena and Olivia Silver, 15 and 13, to benefit the Book Fairies, a nonprofit organization that distributes books to children and communities in need throughout New York and beyond. Although the Silvers have volunteered for the Book Fairies in the past, this was the first book drive they hosted.

They posted fliers throughout Bellmore inviting residents to drop off donations at their home from Nov. 8 to Dec. 8. The sisters packed nearly 200 boxes worth of reading material, which totaled thousands of books, they estimated.

“We wanted to give other students the opportunities we had growing up: a school library with all of the resources,” Olivia said. “Hopefully, now, some other schools will have the resources we had.”

“And they can find the passions that we have,” Athena added.

Literature isn’t just a charitable endeavor for the Silvers — “I love to write,” said Athena, a Sanford H. Calhoun High School sophomore who enjoys creative writing. Olivia, an eight-grader at Grand Avenue Middle School, loves diving into horror and romance novels.

From the day they posted the fliers, they said, flurries of texts streamed into their phones from dozens of interested donors daily. They collected an eclectic array of books, from children’s picture stories to young adult novels and more. The sisters gathered so many books that six vans were required for the pickup on Tuesday; another pickup is scheduled for Dec. 15.

“We didn’t think at all that it would be this big,” Olivia said. “We got a lot on the first day, and we figured that would be the first flow and it would taper off . . . but we would get books pretty much every day, multiple times a day.”

“I’ve always had that [charitable] nature in me, and I want to encourage my kids to give back always,” said their mother, Deanna. She is already brainstorming other charitable endeavors for the family, such as dropping off cards at local senior centers for those who may be isolated during the holidays.

“It was 100 percent touching and overwhelming,” Deanna said of the effort. “It was unexpected, because I didn’t know how far it would go — we took over the whole garage. My husband has to play Jenga with the boxes to make it all fit.”

“I think it’s really important that we continue to get kids books, especially right now,” Olivia said. “A lot of schools aren’t open because of the coronavirus, so we need to continue to give them the resources they need to continue to learn and grow as a student and a person.”

“A lot of places aren’t hosting book drives right now,” Athena added.

“Athena and Olivia have actively supported the Book Fairies for years in different capacities, attending book-sorting events, helping distribute books to teachers and most recently by hosting a successful book drive,” said founder Amy Zaslansky, of Bellmore. “Our mission is large, and we wouldn’t exist if it were not for our volunteers. Athena and Olivia are truly making a difference in the lives of children living right here on Long Island.”