Literacy kit donations helps children read

Posted on by UWMadmin
Originally Published: April 13, 2021

Photos: Literacy kit donations helps children read

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Members of United Way of the Midlands’ Emerging Leaders program, as well as Carter Lake Boys & Girls Club staff and members, pose for a portrait outside the Carter Lake club holding literacy kits donated to Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands on Friday, April 9, 2021. The Emerging Leaders held a “Fill the Shelves” online fundraiser on March 2 in recognition of Read Across America Day, in which community members and sponsors could purchase literacy kits for kids across the 14 Boys & Girls Club locations in Carter Lake, Council Bluffs and Omaha. They were able to put together 525 kits, which include two books, a math workbook, financial literacy comic books, pencils and crayons, activity sheets related to reading and literacy and a “reading encouragement” note written by a local volunteer, all packed inside a drawstring backpack. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska matched the first 250 kits purchased. Alison Ingunza, the steering committee chair for the Emerging Leaders, stressed the importance of grade level literacy and she said the group is happy to be able to serve so many children in the metropolitan area. “We’re excited and we hope they all enjoy the kits,” she said. “It’s really important that these kids are reading at grade level, especially by the third grade. Studies have shown, especially through the United Way, that it’s kind of the pivotal point within their educational journey.” From left, Carter Lake Boys & Girls Club Director Courtney Comfort, Brooklyn Jones, Ingunza, Kali Schreiber, Jayden Fujii, United Way of the Midlands Senior Vice President of Community Impact and Analytics Matt Wallen, Emerging Leaders member Ally Thomson, Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands Reading Program Director Julie Frizzell and United Way of the Midlands Manager of Communications Brayton Hagge.

Staff photo/Joe Shearer

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Brooklyn Jones, 7, unpacks a literacy kit she received, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the United Way of the Midlands’ Emerging Leaders program, outside the Carter Lake Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands location on Friday. The Emerging Leaders held a “Fill the Shelves” online fundraiser on March 2 in recognition of Read Across America Day, in which community members and sponsors could purchase literacy kits for kids across the 14 Boys & Girls Club locations in Carter Lake, Council Bluffs and Omaha. They were able to put together 525 kits, which include two books, a math workbook, financial literacy comic books, pencils and crayons, activity sheets related to reading and literacy and a “reading encouragement” note written by a local volunteer, all packed inside a drawstring backpack. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska matched the first 250 kits purchased. Alison Ingunza, the steering committee chair for the Emerging Leaders, stressed the importance of grade level literacy and she said the group is happy to be able to serve so many children in the metropolitan area. “We’re excited and we hope they all enjoy the kits,” she said. “It’s really important that these kids are reading at grade level, especially by the third grade. Studies have shown, especially through the United Way, that it’s kind of the pivotal point within their educational journey.”

Staff photo/Joe Shearer

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Members of United Way of the Midlands’ Emerging Leaders program deliver hundreds of literacy kits to the Carter Lake Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands location on Friday, April 9, 2021. The Emerging Leaders held a “Fill the Shelves” online fundraiser on March 2 in recognition of Read Across America Day, in which community members and sponsors could purchase literacy kits for kids across the 14 Boys & Girls Club locations in Carter Lake, Council Bluffs and Omaha. They were able to put together 525 kits, which include two books, a math workbook, financial literacy comic books, pencils and crayons, activity sheets related to reading and literacy and a “reading encouragement” note written by a local volunteer, all packed inside a drawstring backpack. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska matched the first 250 kits purchased. Alison Ingunza, the steering committee chair for the Emerging Leaders, stressed the importance of grade level literacy and she said the group is happy to be able to serve so many children in the metropolitan area. “We’re excited and we hope they all enjoy the kits,” she said. “It’s really important that these kids are reading at grade level, especially by the third grade. Studies have shown, especially through the United Way, that it’s kind of the pivotal point within their educational journey.”

Staff photo/Joe Shearer

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