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How the Tragic Death of a Beloved Teacher and Mother Resulted in Thousands of Books Being Donated to Children in Need

Dr. Hindi Krinsky was a mother of five and an English teacher at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School in Lawrence, New York, who passed away tragically last year due to complications from Crohn’s disease. She left behind her husband Dovid Kanarfogel, 35; triplets Eliana, Hudi and Ezra, aged 9; Dorit, 5; and Abie, 3.

Hindi touched the lives of many people and her friend, Leslie Gang, told People: “Hindi was a beautiful, brilliant, and unique woman. She had the ability to inspire and empower those around her even from a brief conversation. She emanated a tremendous sense of confidence and complete originality that was evident to anyone who encountered her.

“Because of the impact she had on, literally, everyone who knew her, everyone was numb for a while, even those who only shared a few moments with her throughout her life. Hindi was a special woman — people like her don’t come around very often.”

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease and it causes inflammation of the digestive tract. Symptoms include abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. While there’s no cure for the disease, it can be treated and isn’t usually fatal, however, it can lead to life-threatening complications.

Following Hindi’s passing, Kanarfogel and Gang were inspired to build a community library for the triplets at their school and invited local parents to donate books. The pair were only expecting a handful of books to come their way but, within just a few weeks, over 250 books had been donated, with that number ever increasing.

This success prompted the two to found Hindi’s Libraries, a non-profit organisation that donates new and gently used children’s books to more than 300 organisations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Israel. Over 40,000 books have been collected and donated since the charity started.

“It feels surreal, honestly,” said Gang, “to know that we’ve been able to provide books to children who wouldn’t otherwise afford them, or to learn that a NICU at a local hospital has built a library for parents visiting their newborns, it makes the long nights and the book pickups all worth it.

“The feedback has been unbelievably wonderful. We are constantly receiving photos from our recipients of children reading books which, like I said, makes it all worth it. It really opened our eyes as to the lack of reading material available to children in the country. If you read the statistics, they’re mind-blowing.”

Hindi’s Libraries is run by both Kanarfogel and Gang, along with a group of volunteers, and relies on fundraising to cover its costs. Given its success, Gang says she looking to increase the charity’s reach and send books to children across the globe.

“We can make a difference. We can make an impact. We just have to try, and sometimes be a little bit crazy,” said Gang. Anyone who wishes to help support Hindi’s Libraries can do so by donating at the organisations website.

“Hindi empowered those around her: students, friends, colleagues, and family,” added Gang. “By using her passion and drive as fuel, together we are putting smiles on the faces of thousands of children throughout the world, by giving them the gift of literacy, and I hope Hindi would be proud of that.”

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