It’s important to support literacy efforts any way we can. As Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a bridge between misery and hope.” What better way to give a child hope than offer them that bridge?
Books Are Magic
People might assume that someone who studied literature in college was born with a love of reading. And I imagine many people are, but my mother will tell you with that I was not one of them.
In fact, I believe early on there were several stern talks about the importance of reading. Then, around first or second grade a stack of books arrived in my bedroom about a week after the school’s book fair. I was told I was expected to read them all.
Being the rule follower that I am, I did.
And the rest, as they say, is a very run-of-the-mill non-fiction book. Ok, no one really says that. Plus, if someone really were to tell my story, I hope it would be historical fiction meaning the author added some fun, juicy details.
The juiciest detail, however, would be true.
I love to read. It is one of my most favorite things in this world and I cannot consider a life without books.
Write A Letter To Inspire Literacy
Another truth is that not all children have parents who are able to buy them a stack of books. In fact, there are children reading junk mail in an effort to read anything they can.
Getting books into the hands of children as early as possible is so important. To highlight that, I recently wrote about 3 innovative literacy programs you need to know about right now.
One of those programs was Promising Pages in Charlotte, North Carolina and here is a recap:
- Charlotte has an estimated 60,000 children in their city who own few, if any books.
- Promising Pages holds “Magic Book Parties” for kindergarteners and first graders.
- These parties have bookworm mascots who explain that, “any child who is lucky enough to hold the Magic Book will grow up to be smart, successful, and do anything they want to do in the world!”
- As part of the party, each child receives a wrapped Magic Book of their very own.
And this is where you come in! Promising Pages serves 1,200+ children in six Title 1 schools throughout Charlotte each of whom receives a book at the book party.
Along with the Magic Book, children are also given a letter from a bookworm to encourage them to read and remind them of the opportunities and adventures reading will bring them.
To ensure that each child gets a special letter with their book, Promising Pages needs volunteers to write bookworm letters. They even provide 3 different bookworm letter templates you print, fill out, and then send to them to include with the Magic Books.
This is one of the easiest micro-volunteering opportunities that supports literacy that anyone can do in a matter of minutes.
Literacy Offers Hope
The smallest of gestures can make a difference in a child’s life. So I hope you will consider writing as many bookworm letters as you can so that Promising Pages has no problem meeting the need of the 1200+ children it serves.
When you’re done, you can lick the envelope with glee (ok, hopefully, you’ve written so many it’s a big envelope that has the self-adhesive so just pretend) and please send them to this address:
Promising Pages @ CBI
4110 Old Pineville Road
Charlotte, NC 28217
Happy letter writing!
Theresa
Wednesday 26th of October 2016
My mom taught for 25 years and she also taught reading, ESL.... I love supporting literacy. I also love the little library project. Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight party. Shared
Michele
Friday 21st of October 2016
I always support literacy causes. I am working at a run for literacy tomorrow and just worked on a Little Free Library project. They are very popular and well used here, especially by children.