News & Press

For Immediate Release

Goal of $100,000 will Support Those Most Affected by Pandemic Learning Loss
through 3,000 One-on-One Reading Sessions with Caring Adults Nationwide

WELLESLEY, MA, March 1, 2023 – National non-profit literacy and mentoring organization Read to a Child^® today announced its tenth annual online fundraising campaign ‘Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader.’ Raising $100,000 in March, which is National Reading Month, will support 3,000 individual reading sessions for elementary school children in under-resourced schools across the country in the organization’s Read Aloud Mentoring Program. Please visit tinyurl.com/ReadersAsLeaders to donate or fundraise for Read to a Child.

This campaign may be Read to a Child’s most important ever, as schools and students attempt to recover from the effects of COVID-19.  As has been widely reported, pandemic learning-loss has wiped out nearly 30 years of gains in reading and has widened an already expansive opportunity gap between low and high-income students across the country.

According to the New York Times 2022 article A Reading Crisis, “Children in every demographic group have been affected, Black and Hispanic children, those from low-income families and those not fluent in English, have fallen furthest behind.”

To combat this crisis, Read to a Child recruits, trains and deploys adult volunteer reading mentors to Title 1 schools where they read aloud one-on-one to children during lunchtime, once a week. Reading aloud to children has been shown to be the single most important activity for eventual success in reading. This time spent with a caring adult provides students with the skills and confidence to succeed in school and life.

All proceeds from the ‘Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader’ campaign will fund the Read Aloud Mentoring Program, which pairs more than 1,000 at-risk elementary school children with volunteer reading mentors. This simple, yet profound, act has been shown to foster a love of reading, improve literacy skills and boost confidence in struggling children.

“Please consider joining visionary sponsors ArcLight Capital, Capital Group, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Pitney Bowes in supporting this year’s campaign to help those most impacted by pandemic learning loss,” said Paul Lamoureux, CEO of Read to a Child.  “As a sponsor, fundraiser or donor you can join our army of volunteer reading mentors in making a huge impact in the life of a child from an under-resourced community. Please join us today.”

For more information about the ‘Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader’ campaign and how to participate or donate, please visit tinyurl.com/ReadersAsLeaders. For interested sponsors, please contact Kristen Baxter. The campaign runs from March 1 – 31, 2023.

‘Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader’ Campaign Sponsors

Visionary Sponsors: ArcLight Capital, Capital Group, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and Pitney Bowes.

Champion Sponsors: Integrity Services and the City of Hartford.

Trailblazer Sponsors: Alston & Bird LLP, Cindy and Rich Wasserman, Detroit Manufacturing Systems, Halloran Sage, Open Raven, Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP.

Advocate Sponsor: Improve Your Schools

About the Read Aloud Mentoring Program

In Read to a Child’s Read Aloud Mentoring Program, an adult is partnered one-on-one with a student attending one of its partner elementary schools for a rewarding, weekly read aloud experience. The relationship lasts for the entire school year and often extends for multiple years through the end of fourth grade. The simple act of reading aloud to a child once a week, over time, improves literacy skills and self-esteem and can have a profound impact on the child’s future. The Read Aloud Mentoring Program also offers the adult a convenient, joyful, and meaningful way to give back.

About Read to a Child 

Read to a Child (readtoachild.org) is a national literacy and mentoring non-profit that fosters a love of reading, improves literacy skills and supports socio-emotional well-being in students from under-resourced communities.  Read to a Child collaborates with thousands of community and corporate volunteer mentors from more than 125 local businesses and organizations who read one-on-one to elementary students at more than 35 Title 1 schools in 18 under-resourced districts in the greater metropolitan areas of Boston, Detroit, Hartford, Los Angeles and Miami.   Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

# # # #

Contact:

Kristen Baxter

National Development Director

Read to a Child

401-316-2148

kristen.baxter@readtoachild.org