Helping the less fortunate was on the minds of many students when they decided not to sell their used textbooks for a couple of bucks, instead opting to put them in “big blue boxes” that are on their way to Africa.

Craig Buske, senior in political science, became heavily involved in the Pages of Promise program because he shared a room with one of its creators his freshman year. He said the program was created by ISU Graduates Keegan Kautzky and Kevin Geiken after Kautzky traveled to Africa and saw the lack of books.

“There’s so much waste on college campuses; so many textbooks get thrown away,” Buske said. “If it’s an old edition, you can’t really sell them back.”

Buske said he took over as director of the program after Kautzky graduated.

He said approximately 8,000 books were collected last semester from Iowa State. All of the books are sent to schools in sub-Saharan Africa via a nonprofit organization called Books for Africa, located in Saint Paul, Minn.

According to the Books for Africa Web site, www.booksforafrica.org, it is the largest donator of textbooks to Africa, shipping 12.6 million books to 26 countries since 1988.

Buske said he estimates 65,000 books have been sent to Africa from Iowa State and other participating schools since he started.

Similar programs exist at the University of Northern Iowa, Simpson College and all six of the Des Moines Area Community College campuses, Buske said. Other students around the country have sought his advice on how to start programs at their schools.

“We are trying to get collections at the University of Iowa,” Buske said. “Right now, because of financial reasons, our expansion is limited.”

Buske said a main problem is getting the books to the warehouse in Minnesota, but this semester he got a little help from DMACC President Robert Denson.

Denson said he was aware the program needed help transport the books.

“It got to the point where they needed better transportation,” he said.

DMACC runs a semi-truck driver training program, and Denson said he had worked his way through college driving a truck. Denson took it on his shoulders to get the books to the warehouse in Minnesota.

“It was a great project. We hauled about 18,000 books up to Saint Paul to share books that go to people who really want to learn English,” he said.

Denson said DMACC would continue to participate.

Rachael Cox, sophomore in agronomy, serves on the board of directors for Pages of Promise and is familiar with Africa’s problems.

“I traveled to Kenya last summer and that kind of increased my interest in the continent and the problems there,” she said.

Cox said many people in the United States take what they have for granted and they should make changes in their lifestyles to make other people’s lives better.

“I’ll probably stay involved in the Pages of Promise project throughout my years at Iowa State,” she said.