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Reading Is Fundamental, Coca-Cola Award Ingenuity Grants to Twenty Local Literacy Organizations
2005 Grants Program Emphasizes Book Buddies and Creative Volunteerism
WASHINGTON — Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF®), the nation’s largest children’s and family literacy organization, and Coca-Cola North America today awarded twenty organizations across the country with a 2005 Ingenuity Grant, as part of their “Reading Takes You Places” partnership. Ten organizations received a Student-to-Student Reading Program Grant which will help create reading partnerships and role modeling opportunities between older and younger children. The remaining 10 organizations received Volunteer Support Grants to help generate best practices for recruiting, retaining, and recognizing volunteers for RIF programs.
First offered by RIF and The Coca-Cola Company in 2001, the Ingenuity Grants are competitive grants available to RIF multi-site programs across the country to develop and implement creative literacy programs. A panel of experts convened by RIF selected the following organizations as grant recipients this year.
Student-to-Student Reading Program Grantees
- Apollo School, Arlington Heights, Ill.
- Bourbon County Schools , Millersburg, Ky.
- Christmas Wish Program, Keaau, Hi.
- Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Bowling Green, Ky.
- Cumberland School Volunteers, Inc. , Cumberland, R.I.
- Dallas Independent School District, Dallas, Texas
- Frazier Elementary School, Greensboro, N.C.
- Millboro Elementary School , Millboro, Va.
- Norwalk Housing Authority, Norwalk, Conn.
- The Rotary Club of Cedar Creek, Kemp, Texas
Volunteer Support Grantees
- Brooklyn Public Library RIF, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Community Action Inc, Head Start, Haverhill, Mass.
- EACHS Head Start Program, Petersburg, W.V.
- Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership, Miami, Fla.
- Minneapolis Teenage Pregnancy & Parenting Program, Minneapolis, Minn.
- Mt. Morris Consolidated Schools, Mt. Morris, Mich.
- Norwalk Housing Authority, Norwalk, Conn.
- Page Ahead RIF Project, Seattle, Wash.
- Reach Out and Read of Greater NY, New York, N.Y.
- WORD, Inc., Missoula, Mont.
“RIF is proud to support innovative approaches to motivational education projects,” said Carol H. Rasco, President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “With the generous assistance of Coca-Cola , these programs serve as incubators for new and creative ways to motivate children read. Children in these programs benefit from unique literacy experiences with their peers and from new and newly energized volunteers from the community. We are then able share these motivational techniques with thousands of other RIF programs serving millions more kids across the country.”
By singling out and funding local literacy programs, RIF and The Coca-Cola Company hope to identify successful, research-based reading initiatives that can be replicated at the state or national level. Judges look for applicants that propose to increase knowledge in the field of reading motivation, strengthen volunteer and community involvement in children’s literacy initiatives, or directly help more children become motivated readers.
Since launching the multi-million dollar “Reading Takes You Places” partnership in 2001, The Coca-Cola Company and RIF together have brought the joy and power of reading to children in some of the nation’s highest-need communities. In addition to the Ingenuity Grants, the four-point initiative includes: Classroom Collections, a campaign to distribute thousands of new, high-quality hardcover children’s books to selected RIF programs; the Local Champions Program, which enables Coca-Cola representatives across the country to partner with local RIF programs through book distribution events; and the RIF Reading Planet, an interactive Web site for parents and kids (www.rifreadingplanet.org).
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.6 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF’s website at www.rif.org.
Discover the Joy!
The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s leading producer of soft drinks, has been a longtime supporter of initiatives that help young people achieve their potential. The partnership with RIF is part of The Coca-Cola Youth Partnership (CCYP), a platform that emphasizes the Coca-Cola commitment to positive youth development. CCYP programs focus on three key areas — the arts, achievement and athletics — and are designed to have a positive impact on young people and help them realize their dreams.
For more information, contact:
Layla Wright-Contreras,
Media Relations Manager
202-536-3528
lwright@rif.org
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