Tribecan Brooke Travis volunteers at the PS 234 library, and she sees how much kids love their books. So when the fires broke out in LA, and homes were reduced to ashes, that image came to mind. So she snapped to, created Books for Babes, and in one week, more than 1000 books have made it across the country and already into the hands of displaced residents. And way more are coming.

“I thought about my own young kids and what a comfort books are,” she said. “I have a lot of friends in LA and the collective devastation for parents especially is astounding. I thought, how can I help?”

By acts of lightning-fast networking, the pieces have come together. She first started collecting books by word of mouth. Then she put it on her social media. A bunch of other Tribeca moms sent books over to her place. Then a local PR company run by Alison Moodie Collins, AM:PR on Fulton, offered to be the Downtown drop-off location. Brooke has a friend in LA who donated a warehouse, and through word of mouth on the other coast, relief organizations on the ground there have started getting the books to donation sites, including schools that are organizing their own drives.

She has also now created a network of other towns and cities that are collecting books. The website directs folks in each city to physical donation sites, and they are adding more all the time.

“New York City and LA feel very connected, so I think the unbearable nature of this disaster has really hit close to home,” Brooke said. “It’s also been a reminder to me that as an individual, you can actually make a difference.”