SALT LAKE CITY — Characters in bestselling fantasy author Brandon Sanderson's books often are faced with challenges ranging from duels to proving one's honor and devotion to a cause — and yet, few individuals show more devotion to a cause than Jared Quan.
So, Quan devoted dozens of hours to making the Dream Big Project a reality — a project that worked with the Lightweaver Foundation, Sanderson's nonprofit, to donate 1,300 Sanderson books to West High School, as well as hundreds of other books from authors Kaela Rivera, Mahtab Narsimhan, Maurice Broaddus, and Emily Huey. On donation day, hundreds of bags were filled to the brim with books, ready to be distributed to 2,600 students on June 6.
Quan worked with Terra Luft, membership chairwoman of the League of Utah Writers, to receive funding from 47 different organizations — including the Sorenson Foundation and League of Utah Writers — to put money toward 300 scholarships that would go to chosen students in that geographical area.League of Utah Writers Pre-Quill Conference
Instead, he and Luft promoted funding to help the students attend the League of Utah Writers Pre-Quill conference digitally, as well as to send as many books as they could to West High. As students received the books and participated in the conference, both the reading material and writing guidance could help improve the young authors' writing skills and confidence in their futures, Quan said.
Funding the Dream Big Project wasn't just an endeavor to help increase literacy rates and writing confidence among young people — but it would also offer hope to those with economic challenges.