Share Your Love of Reading
Thank you to everyone that participated in our annual Share Your Love of Reading campaign! This has been our most successful yet, reaching many new supporters through social media, television, and online news. Through our partnership with The Larry Himmel Neighborhood Foundation we distributed another 2,778 books to our Read Aloud Program participants to celebrate completing 3,024 hours of programming.
Check out our exciting coverage from several local news outlets:
- Channel 8's Zevely Zone: Words Alive: Making reading important at every chapter of life!
- KUSI's Sash Foo: ‘Words Alive’ program promotes literacy and love of reading
- Del Mar Times Write Up: Spotlight on literacy during Words Alive’s 7th Annual Share Your Love of Reading event
- San Diego Patch: San Diego Celebrities, Leaders To Read-Aloud For At-Risk Youth
- Times of San Diego: San Diego Celebrities Share Their Love of Reading with Schoolchildren
A New Way to Make a BIG Difference
Become a Sustaining Donor and Share Your Love of Reading all year long!
Words Alive’s new Sustaining Donor model is a new and convenient way for you to provide crucial and reliable support to our organization. This kind of ongoing support allows Words Alive to focus on continuing to provide the exemplary programming that makes reading matter to the 5,000+ children, teens, and families Words Alive serves each year.
With a donation as little as $5 a month, you can have a huge impact on the students that Words Alive serves. Your generous support will allow Words Alive to reach more students than ever before, in the classroom, in their homes , and in their community.
Becoming a sustaining donor with Words Alive means that you are pledging to make a monthly donation that can be paid in a convenient, ongoing way. Each month, Words Alive will charge your debit or credit card, or make a withdrawal from your checking account, the specified amount that you selected. You are free to select the length of and amount you would like to contribute as a sustaining donor, and you can choose to cancel or change it at any time.
Donors like you make the difference. Thank you.
Make Reading Matter
1 in 4 adults in San Diego are functionally illiterate. Illiteracy and low literacy leads to poor life outcomes including higher rates of incarceration, homelessness, dependence on public assistance, and poor health. Illiteracy is 100% preventable and Words Alive needs your help to ensure that we can continue to serve the children and families who need us most with programs proven to not only improve literacy but inspire a lifelong love of reading and learning.
“Reading opens up new information and experiences, whether readers dive into a subject to gain knowledge, or dive into fiction to escape to other worlds. Reading is also part of life-long learning: fostering literacy in children solidifies their educational foundation and for adults, it helps them open new doors to success,” said Rep. Peters. “The mentorship provided by Words A!ive offers both these benefits to San Diegans and I’m proud to support this program that is empowering our community though literacy programs like Share Your Love of Reading.”
Tony Hawk shares his support for Words Alive!
Family Literacy
By three years of age, there is a 30 million word gap between children from the wealthiest and poorest families. This means that children from low-income communities start kindergarten with a significantly smaller vocabulary to build on. At Words Alive, we are working to eliminate this inequality with our Family Literacy Program. This year we will reach over 600 families with 10.5 hours of parent education on how they can make reading fun in their home.
Teen Services
"At first I didn't like reading becuase I didn't understand what I was reading, even though it was my level book. I would just go on and on to finish, and I wouldn't know what I was reading." When asked what changed after Words Alive, she replied, "I started paying attention. I learned how to get myself into a book, how to question what I'm reading to get into it. [Now] I get why readers are reading." - Adolescent Book Group participant
Read Aloud Programs
There is only one book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods compared to 13 books per child in middle income neighborhoods. This year, Words Alive will gift over 9,500 new books to children in our programs so they can build their home libraries. Having access to books at home allows families to support education outside of the classroom and create a love of learning and reading that will last a life time.