Career Change: Giving Free Books To Kids in Crisis

"In the early 2000s, mine was among the top 50 building companies in the world. It was a Cinderella story. Then in 2007 the bottom fell out. I lost millions," Paul Gilbertson says. Tragedy became opportunity when Gilbertson decided to follow his heart and found a charity that provides free books for kids in crisis.

A Good Cause: Giving Away Children's Books

Starting a nonprofit had two springboards. Gilbertson's idea to give free books to kids was a natural, given his past as a children's book author. "In 1999, I was sitting in the family room on a Saturday morning. My kids were watching Bevis and Butt-Head. I thought to myself, there's got to be something better than this. I asked them what they'd most like to hold in their hands. One said a teddy bear, the other said angel." That launched 20 children's stories with haloed heros – frogs, pigs and more. To Gilbertson's surprise his pig book sold well. But he put the children's book project aside to run his real estate company and raise his four kids.

When the real estate business hit the skids, he thought to resurrect his writing career. In 2007 Gilbertson and his wife flew to New York to attend a children's book fair. When they visited Ground Zero, they saw a wall filled with crayon drawings by children who'd lost a loved one on 9/11. "I thought about all these kids traumatized for the rest of their lives. At the book fair the next day, I wondered what happened to leftover books. I thought, why not give books to kids in crisis to shift their focus and help them."

When he decided to start a nonprofit, his wife said, "What do you know about that." Gilbertson laughed and told her that his building company became a nonprofit. Reach a Child was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2007. "We partner with the people who get to the scene of a disaster first. When I presented my idea to the chiefs of police in our county in Wisconsin, one of them told me, 'This is the best idea I've ever heard. When can you get it going?'"

300,000 Books Later, Still Going Strong

Gilbertson launched the program a month later with backpacks of books for 350 squad cars. "I figured I needed 4,000 books. I only had 400 of my own. But it all came together. Someone called wanting to donate 500 children books. Three phone calls later, I found an organization in New York that donated 3,000 books."

Today, Reach a Child backpacks of books are in 15,000 squad cars and ambulances in 12 states. The organization has given away 300,000 books. Gilbertson has expanded the program to include kids who are visiting mom or dad at 20 state penitentiaries in Wisconsin. They're offering books to kids in hospital emergency rooms and to kids who have to testify in court cases. The nonprofit's staff has grown from two to 10. Next steps: raising money on a bigger scale via corporations and grants. Gilbertson just landed Lou Ferrigno's daughter Shanna as a national spokesperson for Reach a Child. He hopes her upcoming reality show will give his nonprofit new exposure.

Doing Good: The Best Job on Earth

Gilbertson has yet to take a penny in salary. His family lives on his wife's salary as a nurse. "Sure, I could go back to real estate. But why be wealthy when other people have so little. This work has really opened my eyes." Gilbertson tells a story to illustration the reward he now feels. "I was fueling the car and saw a state patrol vehicle at another pump, so I tapped on the window and asked if he had a backpack of books in the car. He told me he'd been called to a rollover on Christmas Day. The road was glazed with ice and the pickup had somersaulted several times. A grandmother was dead, the parents were injured and the little girl was standing by herself in a snowbank, in shock. The trooper grabbed the backpack of books and knelt down next to her. She reached in and picked a couple of books to take with her in the ambulance. I stood there trembling when I heard this story."

Three hundred thousand books are "the tip of the iceberg," says Gilbertson. "We should be a global program giving away 30 million books a year." About his own life, he has this to say: "I used to work to make money. Now I work to make a difference." Gilbertson hopes that people reading this – first responders and donors alike – will want to join Reach a Child.