Ashley McNeill

Ashley McNeill has always felt a responsibility to make a difference in her community. For eight years, Ashley has been involved with the literacy organization Success Won’t Wait.

Ashley has sorted, labeled, repaired, and packed tens of thousands of books. She also created dozens of children’s book baskets and delivered them to waiting rooms and lobbies. She has participated in more than 40 activities, included delivering 5,200 books to impoverished people in Lewis County, West Virginia, providing 2,400 brand new children’s books for the Toys for Tots program in Sussex County, Delaware, and collecting 14,000 pounds of books in one day at the annual Used Book Drive in Salem County, New Jersey.

Since 2002, Ashley has been dedicated to helping the literacy organization. She has collected approximately a quarter of a million books for literacy programs to support local public libraries and schools. One of her colleagues says, “Not only her desire for change, but her action for change is inspiring to others, and she intends to make better the lives of as many people as possible—one book at a time.”

Most recently, Ashley initiated a recycling program. Often, Success Won’t Wait receives books that are water damaged or have broken bindings. Now, because of Ashley’s initiative, any unusable books are sent to recycling.

Ashley is truly dedicated to furthering the mission of the organization and helping promote literacy. She plans to form a satellite office of Success Won’t Wait in her new college town.