Rebuilding Community Through Reading in Hunt, Texas

For years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and Reading Is Fundamental have shared a commitment to putting books and reading resources into the hands of children who need them most. That partnership recently came to life in Hunt, Texas, where local Dollar General employees volunteered to refresh the Reading Corner at Hunt School, the community’s only school, as families there continue to recover from the 2025 floods. In this post, we step back and let the people of Hunt tell the story themselves. You’ll hear from students, educators, and Dollar General volunteers about what reading, community, and showing up for one another means to them. 

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” 

- Margaret J. Wheatley, American writer, speaker, and teacher 

Community can mean many things. At its most basic, it is the people who surround us. This can be rooted in geography, through the people we share our neighborhoods, cities, or regions with. Community can also be built around a shared commitment: people coming together because they care deeply about the same thing. 

For Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), that shared commitment is helping children discover the joy of reading and ensuring they have the books, resources, and accessibility they need to become lifelong, passionate readers. Across the country, countless educators, families, partners, and volunteers share that commitment. In Hunt, Texas, this shared commitment was on full display as local Dollar General employees rolled up their sleeves to refresh a Reading Corner for students at the community’s only school. 

Following the devastating floods that swept through Central Texas in 2025, the community in Hunt and the surrounding region has experienced profound loss and hardship. Yet amid those challenges, neighbors, teachers, families, businesses, and volunteers have continued to show up for one another, demonstrating the strength that can emerge from shared care and connection. A refreshed Reading Corner cannot erase what a community has endured, but it can offer something meaningful: a welcoming place for students to gather, discover new stories, spark their imaginations, and experience the joy of reading.  

So rather than tell this story through our own words, RIF wanted to hear from the people who make this community what it is via the voices of students, educators, and Dollar General employee volunteers. Here is what community, reading, and showing up for one another means in Hunt: 

“Reading brings so much joy, adventure, and knowledge. It opens up whole worlds to our students here. It’s been a rough year and a half for us, so being able to bring in new stories and new adventures, it’s bringing joy to our students who have had a lot of joy missing. This library refresh has been such a gift, and everyone here is really excited to have it.” 

-Kristin Huber, Hunt School Librarian 

“I am the store manager of the closest Dollar General to this location, so my team and I get to serve these people on a regular basis. Today has been an amazing experience – being able to see that the company I dedicate so much of my time to deliver on what they say they do, doing and not just saying, it really encapsulates how we involve ourselves in our own community. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is one of those places where we can assist people who really want to make a difference. It’s all in order to raise up our people. If you can read, you can grow. Participating today was a chance for me to do my own small part to help make a better tomorrow for these kids.  

 I remember Reading Is Fundamental from my school days. My own children have participated in RIF programs, so I saw the effect it had all the way through. To know that my Literacy Foundation gets to partner with this long-standing organization, it was really a powerful moment to get to be a part of that.  

-Gretschen Soble, Store Manager of Dollar General Ingrahm  

“This is the first time I’ve been able to participate in one of these events, so it’s very neat to be able to see how the Dollar General Literacy Foundation supports our community around our stores. I hope that this has a very positive impact on all these children.” 

-Ashley Dodd, Store Manager Ladder for Dollar General 

“I can’t wait to read with my little brother! I really like the new rug and benches.” 

-Emmy, 2nd Grade Student at Hunt School 

“I love how y’all put the celebration in!” 

-Eli, 2nd Grade Student at Hunt School 

“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is so proud to partner with Reading Is Fundamental to give back to the Hunt community. It means the world to me that we are supporting the community and helping out the school.” 

-Scott Walter, Regional Director of Operations 

“Hunt School is like no other place – it truly is special. Literacy is one of the most important parts of a student’s education. Everything revolves around literacy. The library refresh that we got is amazing. It was much needed, and we are so blessed to have benefited from this.”  

-Jenna Lair, Hunt School 4th and 5th Grade Reading and Language Arts Teacher  

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