Melbourne Book Club Gets Active for Education & Raises $20,000 for Two New Libraries

Sometimes the hardest part of finding a way to make a difference is knowing where to start. For Melbourne-based Fiona Armstrong and her friends, it began with a common love – books. The group of eleven started Lit Chicks, a monthly book club, where each woman brought in a different title and shared their thoughts in hopes to inspire another.

When one of the members brought in Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, a memoir by John Wood, Room to Read’s founder, the women were immediately inspired. After hearing Wood speak in person, the group was enthralled by Room to Read’s mission and wanted to do something to help.

Within just a few book clubs, Lit Chicks set out to raise $20,000 in hopes to build a library for Room to Read. Nearly four years later, after hosting a number of trivia nights, movie fundraisers, and other community events, they reached their goal, building not just one library, but two! The first was recently built in Vietnam with another soon to come to India.

Amazing things happen when everyday people set out to do extraordinary things. A tremendous thank you to Fiona Armstrong, Rachael Brown, Natalie Hadley; Sally Warne, Natalie Whiston, Nikki Hills; Susie Cartledge, Karen Finnin, Anna Davidson; Amy Parry and Lauren Kite for their big hearts and willingness to get active for education.

Inspired by their story? Take Fiona’s advice.

“Start small. Think of something you and your family love to do and find a way to earn a little extra money from it for Room to Read. That’s certainly what we started with. That was the building block for all of the ideas we had.”

Discover your way to better the world at give.roomtoread.org/getactive