More than 4,000 comic books are, or will soon be, in the hands of Fullerton School District students, thanks to a donation from Enrique Muñoz, owners of Comic Hero University.
“Kids may not be aware of exactly what’s going on, but if they do, I’m trying to bring a little bit of entertainment into their lives,” Muñoz said. “Maybe they’ll forget about what’s going on because they’re reading about superheroes.”
Teachers and staff at the district, which teaches 14,000 K-8 students, were busy one recent afternoon distributing about 2,500 comic books at the district’s 17 grab-and-go meal sites. Kids and parents smiled in their cars as they held up copies of DC Comics’ Year of the Villain #1, featuring Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom.
Muñoz’s donation isn’t just about providing entertainment for bored kids, he said. It’s also about inspiring creativity and getting kids to engage in reading, he said.
Comic books were a great tool during his own childhood learning English as a second language, he said.
“It was comic books that helped me bridge that gap and get me to the other side of the language,” he said. “Maybe that will be the case for someone else.”
As with many businesses the state categorized as “non-essential,” Comic Hero University in Fullerton closed its storefront in mid-March under California’s stay-at-home order.
Some customers bought gift cards to help out, and Muñoz sold some comics online. But he wondered if he might generate more money for the store – and benefit his community – if he asked people to “buy” comic books for schools, libraries and hospitals.
He created a three-minute video that posted on April 1, announcing the “Pay It Forward” program.
His customers gave nearly $1,000 to the store in the program’s first three weeks, he said.
“The response was incredible,” he said. “I have a lot of customers who wanted to find a way to help our business.”
Muñoz first approached the Fullerton School District because he knew its staff has been giving out lunches to kids, which would make it easy to distribute the comic books as well.
The district “graciously” accepted his donation, he said.
“Everyone learns in a different way, and this is a different way to garner the interest of different personalities,” said Pam Chow, the project liaison in the superintendent’s office. “It’s something different. It’s colorful, so it catches people’s attention. It’s something they can enjoy. They are excited to get them.”
District staff screened the comic books to make sure they were appropriate for the kids, just in case, Muñoz said.
This week, Muñoz gave the district about 1,800 more comic books – Justice League #1, DC Nation #0 and a Batman book. Even as he’s preparing to reopen his store, Muñoz said he wants to donate more comic books to organizations that want them.
“Comic books are great literature for kids.”
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May 14, 2020 at 05:24AM
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In Fullerton, school lunch comes with a side of a comic book - OCRegister
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