The Founder

Virginia Delegate Mr. Kenneth Plum Virginia Delegate Mr. David Poisson

Sarasi Jayaratne was born in Fairfax, Virginia in 1989 and has attended schools in Sterling, Virginia. Currently at the age of 19, she is a freshman in Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Her parents, Nimal and Seetha Jayaratne, are originally from Sri Lanka and live in the US since 1984.

She was a Girl Scout since 2001 and now a Senior Girl Scout Cadet. She received her Girl Scout Silver Award in 2005 and Gold Award, highest Girl Scout award, in September 2007. She was the Secretary of her Girl Scout Troop 2485 in 2005/06. The idea of helping children was inspired in her mind while she was helping communities as a Girl Scout. This was further prompted after the 2004 Tsunami that devastated Asia, especially her ancestral land, Sri Lanka. Also she thought that if the knowledge of English is further improved as a common language among the younger generation in Sri Lanka, it will bring harmony to the Sri Lankan society that was shattered by years of civil war.

Founded by her in 2006, Keep Reading Foundation received a wide recognition around theworld. She organized one of her book donation events in Sri Lanka 2007, 2008 and 2009 with the help of Janavijaya Foundation, Sri Lanka

Sarasi is a senior soccer and piano player since the age of six. She has participated in various local soccer games and has won several trophies and awards. Currently, Sarasi is a member of the Senior Advisory Board of Potomac Falls High School and serves as the secretary of National Honor Society. She is the Sergeant of Arms of National Arts Honor Society in 2007 and received the Golden Paintbrush Award from the society for her outstanding work on art. She received the outstanding Volunteer Service Award from Loudoun County in 2006 for her commendable service to the community and Presidential Gold and Bronze Awards from USA Freedom Corps. She is the school nominee for The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Some of her volunteer work includes helping seniors at Falcon's Landing, working as a Congressional Aide, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, and volunteer service at Lodoun Hospital Center and Tsunami fund raising in 2005. She received Excellence in Education Award in 2007 from Loudoun County Public School System.

What inspired Sarasi to take action?

On Dec. 26, 2004, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake on the ocean floor near Sumatra, Indonesia produced the most deadly tsunami in the world history. The tsunami caused a catastrophic loss, killing more than 160,000 people and leaving many thousands homeless. It also leveled hundreds of cities and towns causing billions of dollars of damage to Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. According to World Bank report, 168 schools were either destroyed or damaged in Sri Lanka alone by the tsunami.

Sri Lanka is a large tropical island just 20 miles off the southern tip of India. I felt very sad about poor children who lost all their educational privileges as a result of the tragic tsunami. At that time, I was designing a service project for my Junior Girl Scout troop. Having seen the devastation in Asia, I knew that I should do something to help poor children in those countries. Being a native Sri Lankan my instant reaction was to help children in Sri Lanka.