VOYA Winner - Oscar Cux

Good evening ladies and gentleman. First, I would like to thank the VOYA committee for awarding me such an honor. I would also like to thank Patt Zimbelman for nominating me, Carol K. Henault for her great leadership and the network of volunteer angels that work for Reading is Fundamental of Southern California.

I will try to explain, how I feel right now. In order for me to do that, I must tell you a little story (I work in a library, I have to tell a story please bear with me). My name is Oscar Cux, I’m from Guatemala Central America. I came to America when I was eleven years old. As a child, poverty did not allow me to dream of coming to America or going to Disneyland. Those dreams were blocked by a lack of money and hunger, but some how my mother and I made the journey to America. This Great nation of ours has given me the honor to be called an American Citizen, but tonight, Reading is Fundamental has given me an award that surpasses any dream that Disneyland could ever promise to fulfill.

I would also like to share with you my RIF story. Like I said before I work with a network of angels from Reading Is Fundamental. Trust me when I say they are angels, I don’t mean Angelinos. They provide books for the children of my community. I choose these wonderful books and I take them to my school site. I announce to the students that, "We are having another wonderful book distribution". I choose a book and I draw a poster of the cover of the book I will be reading aloud. This is where my job begins. My job is to teach the love of reading to my students. I help them realize that the book they will choose will change their lives. I make funny sounds and mimic gestures and give each character of the book a different voice. I do this because I want them to realize that there is more to books than just pictures and words. Books have the magical power of waking up the sleeping giant in all of them. This giant is called imagination. Imagination can take them anywhere. These books are the magic lamps that they must discover. The imagination genie can grant them any wish. It has granted me wishes that I never imagined. I read with my heart so that the students see that reading is fun and that it is their responsibility to give life to the stories they take home. It is their responsibility to share these books with their families.