Fundraiser Started For Beloved Washington Heights Community Bookstore

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A beloved Washington Heights bookstore and community center is looking for support in continuing to serve its Upper Manhattan home.

Word Up, which is located near West 165th Street, started a fundraiser at the end of November to help with continuing to maintain its book supply, distribution of mutual aid, providing COVID tests, managing its community fridge, expanding its youth programming, creating its second uptown community space, and more.

"Please contribute today so that Word Up can continue to be a resource for the neighborhood, for our communities, for you," Word Up wrote on its fundraiser.

The fundraiser has a $34,000 goal. It has raised $8,300, or 24 percent of that goal, as of Thursday afternoon.

"Of course, we love books, and we want to make sure everyone has the books they need to feed their minds and hearts," the fundraiser reads. "But during these last few years, we knew we needed to do more. That's why Word Up became a driving force in the neighborhood to address issues like income inequality, food insecurity, systemic racism, and a lack of universal healthcare."

One person that donated wrote "Thank you Word Up team for being here for the Washington Heights and broader uptown community."

The uptown bookstore also posted a video to YouTube explaining its push for more funding.

You can find out more about Word Up on its website.