The Monday Clubhouse Conservancy is donating $4,500 to The Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County for the Raising A Reader program, coordinated by the SLO County Office of Education, as part of its community philanthropy efforts.
Raising A Reader provides programs that foster a love of books in young children. Raising A Reader presents red canvas book bags to Pre-K programs, each containing four multicultural, high-quality children’s books. It gives children opportunities to expand early language skills, vocabulary and print awareness and encourages read-aloud time at home. The program also benefits parents who may be English language learners and provides an abundance of positive verbal interaction opportunities between parents and children.
“During the 2019-2020 club year, the Raising A Reader Committee held several fundraisers, including hand-crafted velvet pumpkins, holiday evergreens, and seasonal local chocolates.”
-Janice Crooks, RAR Committee Chair.
Committee members volunteer in pre-K classrooms, helping teachers organize the book bags and reading to children. When schools closed in March due to the COVID pandemic, in-person volunteering stopped but teachers are now, once again, sending book bags home with children.
Another Raising A Reader project delivers plastic book bags to the Pediatrics Department at Sierra Vista Hospital. The program is called “Books are the Best Medicine,” and the Raising A Reader committee members provide hand-written “Get Well” cards for each bag.
The committee will continue fundraising and safe volunteer efforts throughout the year to support the Raising a Reader program.
The Monday Clubhouse Conservancy is a 501(c) 3 Public Benefit Charitable Foundation whose mission includes providing community and educational activities and preserving and restoring the historic landmark known as The Monday Club of San Luis Obispo.
For more information about the Raising a Reader Program and Monday Club member volunteers, visit https://www.themondayclubslo.org/RAR. To learn about The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County visit https://www.cfsloco.org.