AR Kids Read announced a $70,000 matching grant from the combined efforts of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Fifty for the Future, Arkansas Community Foundation and The National Christian Foundation at an event on Sept. 8.
Donations made to AR Kids Read until Dec. 1 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.
AR Kids Read is an initiative to train and place tutors in Pulaski County school districts. On Sept. 8, the group held an event at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library to launch its annual volunteer recruitment campaign.
The goal is to recruit 600 tutors to volunteer one hour per week for 10 weeks with first- through third-grade students at 44 elementary schools.
“Reading is the gateway to academic success,” Little Rock Superintendent Baker Kurrus said in a news release. “Whether or not a third grader can end the school year reading at third grade level is a key indicator about their future success in school, high schools graduation and beyond.”
According to the release, 65 local organizations are AR Kids Read Partners.
“I’d say it was one of the best jobs in the world,” tutor Mary Dee Taylor said. “There is no paycheck but the payoff is just wonderful. Watching a child bloom as he conquers a problem must be one of the most rewarding efforts ever.”
For more information or to sign up to volunteer with AR Kids Read, you can visit its website.
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