On April 1, the Prison Library Project kicked off its first ever spring postage drive, a fundraiser attempting to gather over $6,000 that will help answer letters from inmates across the country.

Each month, the Prison Library Project, housed at the Claremont Forum Library, receives thousands of letters from inmates at over 300 prisons around the nation. All write requesting books and education materials from the local nonprofit.

Every month, the project provides nearly 850 books to inmates in 42 states. In 2019, the project mailed. over 10,000 books to inmates.

However, with little manpower and high postage costs, the Prison Library Project decided to launch the spring postage drive to help cover shipping costs.

If the $6,000 goal is met, the funds will help the project respond to at least 95% of the book requests the project has pending, according to Claremont Forum manager Ivan Mendez.

The final day of the fundraiser is May 31. To donate for the cause online, visit https://claremontforum.networkforgood.com/projects/154718-spring-postage-drive.

The Forum breaks down the various levels of donation as follows: $25 sends packages of books to seven people; $100 covers the postage for an entire day of book requests; and $500 allows the nonprofit to answer an additional 140 letters requesting books.

As of press time Thursday, the drive has raised [$6,226] in donations.

“We just want to better the world if we can, even if it is on a small level,” Mendez told the COURIER in April. “People will say, ‘Oh they’re just sending books …’ If one out of those 2,500,000 inmates are impacted by a book and they can improve or develop their life … have a better life prior to them being incarcerated … we’re winning in that aspect [and] that’s a victory for them. That’s the reason why we do it.”

For more information, visit claremontforum.org/event/spring-postage-drive.