I’ve never met Alys Culhane, but she is a hero of mine, a champion of the American tradition of being strong and brave and determined to help the needy and the vulnerable. Contrary to our tortured politics, the true patriots in our country have often reached out to help the needy and the vulnerable. Alys is a true patriot.

She lives in a tiny town in Alaska called Palmer and is a riding instructor and writer. She lives with her husband, Pete. She is a champion of the Army of Good. She has sent thousands of books to revitalize the Bishop Gibbons library and hundreds to the Mansion residents who love to read mysteries and romance novels. She single-handedly started and ran a remarkable and worthy project called the Bright Lights Book Project.

I thought I had to try to raise $5,000 for the Bishop Gibbons library, which was old and out of date. I didn’t have to lift a penny. Alys messaged me and told me she would take care of it. I was dubious.

Alys read the blog and asked me what was needed; weeks later, box after box of books came down from Alaska. Bishop Gibbons’s English Teacher was stunned and grateful. I’m a believer now.

The mission of Bright Lights is simple –  collect the countless books are destroyed every day in America, save them, and get them to people who want and need them. We are an almost criminally wasteful nation; Alys had an excellent idea.

It’s a simple one, but a brilliant one. The books she sent to Bishop Gibbons are all in terrific shape, clean, and carefully chosen for middle-school students.

She was in a recycling center in Alaska one day a couple of years ago when she saw workers throwing boxes of books in excellent condition into incinerators. She couldn’t believe that she was seeing a state and country where schools struggled to pay for books and supplies. The Alaska teachers were deeply grateful.

She and her army of volunteers scour the state for old or discarded books, clean each one, and send them out to schools, residences, hospitals, and nursing homes where needed, even out of state. Whenever the Army of Good needs books, which is often, Alys is right there.

This week, Alys (we are e-mail pals) sent me a link to a three-minute video she’s put up on YouTube about the work Brights Lights does. She asked me for feedback. I like it a lot. If you would like to read it and offer her your feedback, she would be glad to hear it. You can also e-mail her at [email protected].