TAMPA, Fla. — Two Bay Area teens are changing kids' lives one book at a time. 

  • Bay Area teens donating books to community
  • Read Repeat program to help kids read, save planet

Vance Tomasi and Chase Hartman, both 13-years-old, started the Read Repeat program in 2016 to share their love of books and to save the planet. 

The teens collect thousands of gently used books a month and ​distribute them to schools, hospitals, libraries, and organizations.  The books are either donated or collected from landfills. 

So far they have collected over 85,000 books and distributed over 83,000 books to the community and charities in other states. 

“Books help inspire kids to do great things, and great things help the world,” said Vance Tomasi. 

Students at Cleveland Elementary will also get to enjoy those books.  The boys plan to donate hundreds of books today to the school, thanks to a grant from Karma for Cara and a GoFundMe page they started. 

"We think it's important for the younger kids to start reading because if they start off reading they will continue reading through middle school, high school, and later in life," Tomasi said. 

Each student at Cleveland Elementary will be able to take seven books home with them.