Teen Gives Students The Gift Of Reading

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A teenager is giving Santa a run for his money this year, giving books to every student in one Sacramento school.

The students at Fairbanks Elementary School were very excited to see 18-year-old Cody Barbour this morning. Cody was at the school to drop off hundreds of books he purchased.

Each student got to choose any book they wanted.

"It feels fantastic. It's a great feeling seeing the smiles on their faces," Cody explained. "These kids really touched by heart."

This isn't Cody's first foray into giving the gift of reading. It started a few years ago when he donated dictionaries. The he bought books for an entire third grade class. This year, he went big, buying for the entire school.

"I was really amazed at this youth. He's only 18 years old and he's willing to give money he earned to students he doesn't know. I was very impressed he was that generous," said second-grade teacher Effie Griffith.

Cody raised more than $2,000 to buy 420 books for the students. He said he used emai and Facebook to spread the word about the cause.