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Someone You Should Know: Reading Advocate William Hall

CHICAGO (CBS) -- He started just a few months ago, but William Hall has already collected thousands of books to give to children who most need them.

He is someone you should know, CBS 2's Harry Porterfield says.

Reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body, Hall says. He is the founder of Acts of Love, a campaign to collect books for economically challenged young people so they can read their way to a better future.

"I believe that if you impart a child's mind with the seeds of knowledge they can be anything that they set their minds to," Hall, 27, says.

Hall's main motivation is to collect and distribute books to those youngsters who may be deprived of the opportunity to read as often as they should. Recently, he delivered books to youngsters at the Apple Tree Learning Center on Irving Park.

"Will is doing a great job because we need this generation to help the new generation," owner Flor Decastro says.

Hall collects coloring books for young kids along with enriched literature and mathematics books for "marginalized" youths from 3 to 19.

Hall started his Acts of Love campaign last August, and already he has managed to collect and distribute more than 4,000 books.

He says distributing books is all about the love of young people -- too many of whom he has seen in caskets.

"It hurts to know that a child never had an opportunity to dream," he says. "They never get that opportunity because of some senseless violence, because someone was careless with their life."

Click here to learn more about Acts of Love.

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