A New Chapter on Charity : Books: Dedicated high school senior operates a book giveaway program for homeless children, bringing a measure of joy into their troubled lives.

Sharee, 9, never had many books to call her own. Nine-year-old Josh loves super-hero books, but all of his are stored in a box somewhere.

Both of these children are now homeless, living day to day at San Diego’s St. Vincent de Paul Joan Kroc Center with more than 80 other kids.

Some come in with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Others, like 11-year-old Susanna who has lived at the family shelter since she moved from Los Angeles with her mother and sisters nearly a year ago, have managed to hold on to the sparse collection of toys or books that once adorned the place they called home.

For most, books have not figured prominently in their transient lives where even food and shelter are unpredictable.

But the volunteer efforts of one Grossmont High School senior mean they each now go to bed with a short stack beside them--for keeps.

Marshall Clark, 17, has delivered nearly 5,000 books to the shelter at 15th Street and Imperial Avenue since January, when he decided to do something for homeless kids. Friends of the Clarks had been purchasing socks for San Diego’s homeless, but Marshall’s funds were limited. Instead, he looked to a resource he has always treasured: the books on his own bedroom bookshelf.

Since that first load in January, Clark has organized a book drive at a different elementary school each month. Last week he delivered a batch that topped 700, including everything from “Gobots on Earth” and “The Legend of Zelda” to the more classic “Winnie the Pooh” and “My First Bedtime Book.”

Teachers and administrators at the center say limited funds make it impossible to buy books for the children to keep. Even organizing a donor drive would have consumed costly staff time.

Marshall Clark’s one-man organization--Books for San Diego Kids--came as a welcomed surprise.

“It stays with the kids forever. These kids are moving around all the time. Even if you reread that book 100 times, you’re still getting excited. You’re still learning new words,”’ said St. Vincent de Paul’s Father Joe Carroll.

“It’s a matter of coming up with an idea that we never thought of. (Marshall) said, ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to bring them to you, and I’m going to make sure you get them to the kids.’ ”

At the Joan Kroc Center, a free book performs several functions. They help kids and their parents hone reading skills, but almost as important to homeless children is the chance to claim something for their own. The books have also served as prizes for good behavior.

“Read two, get one free,” Carroll offered. “Help clean up the room, get a book.”

“We’ve had contests to see who’s reading the most,” added Bernie Miles, program manager for the center’s children’s services. “I’ve seen kids go through six books” when the load arrives.

The books have been collected from Rios, Vista Grande, and Rancho San Diego elementary schools, among others. After checking with the district superintendent and the school principal, Clark makes up flyers for the school’s kids, telling them to bring their old books in by the week’s end. They haven’t needed much prodding.

“They literally jump out of the cars and run up to give me the books,” said Clark, describing pick-up days. Clark, whose operation includes himself, the family van, and at times the help of his enthusiastic mom, Nancy, then hauls the goods off to St. Vincent’s.

Jill Sattel, head teacher at the Joan Kroc Center, said that so many books have come in, she’s been able to redistribute some to St. Vincent’s Ramona shelter, others to the Salvation Army shelter, the public school for homeless kids across the street from the Joan Kroc Center, and the long-term living area at the center, she said.

While most of the books have gone to kids for keeps, Sattel has taken some for her own small library in the Joan Kroc children’s center. That’s a welcome change for her own children, who used to lend Sattel their books to take to work, she said.

She has also used some to enhance themes in her curriculum.

Last week, books on cooking and pet care lined little tables in the center.

“I hope they start coming up to me and saying, ‘See Jill, I’ve got this book on dinosaurs--what we talked about last week,’ ” Sattel said.

But most important for Sattel and the children is that they get to keep the books.

“Many of them are coming in with just T-shirts on their backs. I have a little box of shoes here for them. Now I can say, ‘Go ahead, take (the books).’ And it’s not going to deprive anyone else,” she said.

“So many times, these kids come in here, and they’ve had to leave everything behind. They come in after living on the streets or moving from one shelter to another. Then they come here and this place is like a Disneyland. When they leave, they leave all this behind,” she said of the comfortable, well-equipped Joan Kroc Center.

Helping the kids with their reading and teaching them to love books could also be the key to ending the cycle of homelessness that plays out in homeless families, Sattel said.

“We may not do it with their parents, but we’ll do it with these kids--by teaching them they have choices,” Sattel said. But without that extra push, the kids she works with daily are likely to end up as homeless adults.

“If you’re out on the streets, you’re not reading. Even to get a library card, you need an address,” she said.

St Vincent’s Father Carroll estimates there are between 500 and 1,000 homeless children countywide. About 40% of their parents are illiterate.

Eight years ago, he started the school for homeless kids to try to break that cycle. “We found out that some kids were 8 years old, and they’d never been to school. And we thought, ‘Here’s the next generation of homeless,’ “Carroll said.

If interest is an indicator, the kids pawing through Marshall Clark’s books on Thursday won’t be on the streets. Sharee gripped her new Pop-Up Sizes book, and Josh, a freckled sci-fi enthusiast with a long ponytail and black high-top sneakers, clutched Masters of the Universe.

“I don’t have any books up there,” he said of the upstairs shelter that has become his temporary home. “They’re all stored in boxes.”

Susanna, 11, picked out “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” after careful perusal. “It’s funny. It’s fun to read, and it’s silly too,” she said. “When I had my own house, I had a lot of books.”

Teacher Sattel said having a role model like Marshall Clark could give children like Susanna extra incentive to turn their lives around.

He’s clearly motivated.

“I had a lot of books and I wanted to do something for charity,” Clark said. “I was planning on just taking them here, but they told me they had no program for book donations. So I started one myself.

“Every chance I get, I pretty much have a book in my hand,” said Clark, who added that the high dose of reading during his own childhood has helped with his studies.

Where he finds the time remains a mystery. He’s a high school senior preparing to apply to some top-rate universities, including Stanford and Duke. He also plays water polo for Grossmont High--four hours a day. Last year, he was on the diving team and he also volunteered at Grossmont Hospital.

But Clark said the kids’ response makes it worth it.

“The last time I was here, we weren’t even done unloading, and one little boy pulled out a book and said, ‘Read to me.’ Then he pulled out another and another,” Clark said. “We went through about five books.”

While Clark hasn’t talked about his book program much with his friends, on Tuesday he plans to send out letters to schools countywide, seeking volunteers to help him expand.