Second-grader Kaia Hansen, who is a Girl Scout Brownie with Troop 2674 and resides in Gilbert, was recently inspired to take action and help make the world a better place.

Kaia decided to host a book drive throughout the month of April as a way to give back and help others — specifically, children in the local community. She researched organizations, designed and created a flyer, determined an outreach plan, and then collected and sorted books that were generously donated by family, friends, and neighbors. She also gathered books to donate from her own bookshelf and used some money from her piggybank (as well as a monetary contribution from her sister, a kindergartner who is also a Girl Scout Daisy and wanted to participate).

As a result of Kaia’s efforts and the support that she received, she was able to donate 144 new children’s books to Arizona Helping Hands that will now be gifted to children in foster care. She also collected an additional 288 gently used children’s books and magazines that she donated to the Sunshine Acres Children’s Home library. A total of 432 books and magazines were donated to local children in need as a result of an 8-year-old being inspired to make the world a better place.

After touring both Arizona Helping Hands in Phoenix and Sunshine Acres Children’s Home in Mesa at the time of donating, Kaia—along with her siblings—left feeling inspired to do even more to continue to help other children in the local community.