The money will be used to support 'Books for Kids Read at Home'

Read to Grow, a statewide early literacy nonprofit, has received a $38,600 award from United Way of Coastal Fairfield County to fund year two of the “Books for Kids Read at Home Initiative,” according to a statement.

"The initiative is a partnership between Read to Grow and United Way, developed to ensure that children in United Way's 12-town region have age-appropriate books to read at home," the statement said.

Myra Healy, who is is responsible for recruiting book drive sponsors, developing community collaborations and building awareness of literacy resources available to families in the Greater Bridgeport and Greater Norwalk areas, as well as coordinating book distribution, will continue as project coordinator, the statement said.

"During the partnership’s first year, more than 20,000 new and gently used books were distributed to children through child care programs, health care facilities, school and community organizations, such as the South End Community Center, Optimus Health Care, Cesar Batalla Elementary, Geraldine Johnson School, The Open Door Shelter, and the Norwalk Housing Authority Learning Centers," the statement said. "Many of these books were donated to the initiative through book drives run by individuals, schools, sports teams, companies and others interested in supporting early literacy."

To run a book drive or donate books to support children’s literacy, call Read to Grow at 203-488-6800 or visit www.readtogrow.org.

 

Editor's note: All information in this post was contributed.