Cool Kid Sonal Kapoor sells textbooks to raise money for children's hospital in Nicaragua

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KABC) -- Our ABC7 Cool Kid for Thursday, Oct. 13, is Sonal Kapoor, who collects books to donate to local organizations.

Kapoor's home looks more like a library with stacks and stacks of donated books, some even spilling into the garage.

The collection is all so she can donate those books to local non-profit organizations that need books. It's a project the Santa Clarita senior started when she was in eighth grade.

Kapoor has donated more than 6,000 books to more than 30 non-profits, including hospitals and schools that are short on funding.

"I collect books from family and friends, and I try to keep them organized," she said. "It just started as an idea and it grew, rapidly. So many people have books lying around and don't know what to do with them."

Her parents said while the number of books can be overwhelming, they believe it's all for a wonderful cause and they are proud of their daughter.

Now Kapoor is taking her project a step further. She is getting text books from classmates at Flintridge Prep and selling them to raise money for the only children's hospital treating cancer patients in Nicaragua.

"I've raised, I think, over $6,000 for that hospital, which is really exciting and it's really cool to be able to go there as well and see the families that are affected by that," she said.

Kapoor even has a website, rescuebook.org, for her project so she can continue it beyond high school. This makes her one cool kid who is changing lives one book at a time.