Horizon West Middle student creates book drive to help Ukrainian families

With a table full of children’s books, 13-year-old Mia Wojcik from Horizon West Middle distributed them for free at the Ukrainian Cultural Festival Saturday, Aug. 23, in West Palm Beach. 

The books were ones she collected in her community to donate to Ukrainian families after she started volunteering for ENGin, a global nonprofit advancing social and economic development in Ukraine. 

Through the nonprofit, Mia met 12-year-old Yelyzaveta Rachkova, a Ukrainian girl who resettled in Poland. They meet virtually weekly.

Their connection inspired Mia to curate a book drive to donate to Ukrainian families who have resettled in Florida due to the war so families can learn English while feeling welcomed, included and supported. 

“She’s just inspired me to want to help Ukrainian people because of all her stories, how sweet she is and just how bad I feel and how much I want to help the Ukrainian community resettle here in Florida,” Mia said. “So I wanted to take initiative and start this book drive, so I could help thousands of people instead of just one girl.”

Mia distributed close to 300 books during the festival and said it was so exciting to see how happy families were to see her give out free books. 

“My favorite (part) was probably being there, because I just loved meeting new people,” Mia said. “I met this really adorable little girl who took a lot of books named Lily, and she was just so sweet, and I think just being at that festival, whether I was donating books or not, it was just so much fun — the music, the stage, there was live performances of traditional dances, there was markets selling Ukrainian food, Ukrainian clothing. It was just so much fun to be there, and the fact that we got to be a part of the happiness, too, was a plus.” 

Yelyzaveta was erupting with excitement when Mia told her about the book drive. 

“I told her the idea, and she was just so happy,” Mia said. “It was so exciting to see how happy she was, and she helped me learn some Ukrainian, too, so when I was at the festival delivering my speech about the book drive, I was able to talk to Ukrainians.” 

To collect the books, Mia created a book drive, setting up flyers around her community asking for donations. Her National Junior Honor Society director, Jacquelyn Rifenberg, was her biggest help. 

“I reached out to her and she helped. She loved the idea,” Mia said. “She helped by spreading the word to the staff, the community and the students, and we got way more than we expected. We got like 400 books because of how the school donated.”

With some books leftover from the festival, Mia said she’s trying her best to distribute them to Ukrainian families in her community. 

After connecting with the Ukrainian Association of Florida, the organization said it will help her connect with families in the area that could benefit from these books. 

In the future, Mia hopes to continue working with the Ukrainian Association of Florida to help families in the area. 

“I want to major in law when I’m in college,” Mia said. “I would love to be a lawyer helping with international affairs like helping Ukrainians — what I just did with the book drive — but as a career, potentially.”