Reading is FUNdamental!

The past few weeks of my life have been consumed by a children’s literacy project that my friend B and I have been chairing through our Junior League. We ordered, inventoried, sorted, stamped, organized, boxed and loaded over 24,000 books for distribution at 11 area schools. B and I both work, so many late night and weekend hours were required! It was an exhausting, and at times, overwhelming, endeavor that included some stressful twists and turns (16,000 of our books were not delivered to us until 3 days prior to the date they were to be delivered to the schools!). With the help of co-chairs willing to go above and beyond our expectations, a flexible and dedicated committee of volunteers, our heroic husbands, some sweet friends, a bit of child labor (this project presented a neat hands-on opportunity to teach the importance of community service), a jar of Advil (moving hundreds of boxes a books is back-breaking work—I’m STILL sore!), a box of band-aids (my arms are covered with paper and cardboard cuts!), gallons of coffee and Red Bull, a little venting, and even a few frustrated tears, we accomplished our mission!

This project became a family affair, so I want to say a BIG public thank you here on our blog to D for lending a hand (and strong, muscular arms!) with the work and for being so supportive of my commitment to this initiative. And to Miss A, Miss K and Miss M for putting up with your frazzled, tired, and just plum worn-out Mommy last week and for being such cheerful little helpers when I toted you along!

Me and my co-chair B. Thanks, B for everything you did--our RIF distributions would not have been a success without you (I wasn’t kidding about the day at the spa—will be sending you some dates, soon!)
Here's a little article we worked up that explains a bit more about our Reading is Fundamental book distribution project:
(Submitted by CJB and BC, RIF Chairs 2011-2012)
Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children’s literacy non-profit in the United States. The Junior League of Greater Lakeland has maintained the longest running RIF program in the State of Florida. In cooperation with RIF, and with a passion for increasing literacy in our community, the Junior League of Greater Lakeland has operated this national book distribution program in Polk County for 37 years—distributing over 611,000 books to children in our community. The RIF program motivates children to read by delivering free books, literacy resources and reading encouragement to those children and families who need them the most.

Nearly two-thirds of low-income families in the United States own no books. The Junior League of Greater Lakeland has operated the Polk County RIF program under a Federal Grant from the RIF organization where by the organization has matched our funds 3-for-1 for the purchase of books. The program has visited 11-13 area elementary schools with the highest socio-economic need and lowest reading scores. As part of the program, each child at the school has the opportunity to select 3 books of their very own from a wide variety of titles, subjects and reading levels. The program’s goal is to ignite excitement for literacy through the distribution process. As our volunteers visit each school for a “RIF Party”, hundreds of books are displayed, allowing children to explore their interests and make their own choices. The books are free and the moments are priceless, as excited readers show off their selections, pose for pictures, and ask in wide-eyed amazement: “These books are mine to keep? I really don’t have to bring them back to the library?” The entire process is fun and memorable for all involved – kids are energized, parents are encouraged and educators feel a sense of satisfaction.

RIF has been funded under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (SEC.5451 Inexpensive Book Distribution Program for Reading Motivation) by Congress and six Administrations without interruption since 1975. Unfortunately, this past spring, the federal government prepared their budget for this fiscal year, and an outcome was that funding for the national RIF program was cut. The Junior League of Greater Lakeland was awarded a contract to complete the final funded year of the program by December 2011. Over the next two weeks, the Junior League’s RIF Committee will be distributing over 24,000 books at 11 area schools to round out the final distributions under our contract. Our League is currently exploring options to continue its successful book distribution program without the assistance of federal funds through the RIF grant.

Sorting a batch of books at JLGL Headquarters:
Girls hard at work stamping each book with the JLGL logo and a place for the proud new owner to write his/her name):
We even put Miss K to work!
And a few pictures from my distribution at the school where our League held its very first RIF book distribution—37 years ago! Each child got to choose and take home 3 new books of their very own!
This is the FUN part!