Greenwich United Way Reading Champions Receives $5,000 Grant

Steve Deluca, a representative from the Rotary Club of Greenwich, visited Greenwich United Way CEO, David Rabin, last week to present a check for $5,000. The donation will support the Greenwich United Way Reading Champions program. “The Greenwich United Way is very honored to be the recipient of this generous grant from Rotary Club of Greenwich for our Reading Champions program. The grant will allow us to continue to improve the reading fluency of children in Greenwich.” said Rabin.

In Greenwich, 137 tutors serviced 450 students in 14 locations (10 public school and 4 after school) during the 2016/17 school year. Since the inception of the Reading Champions program at the Greenwich United Way in the Fall of 2008 over 860 tutors have serviced over 3,000 students. All Reading Champions sites have "end of the year ceremonies" where children receive a medal, a certificate of achievement and a book. A special event for Reading Champion volunteers will be held on Thursday, June 8th. The event honors the hard work of these Greenwich United Way volunteers. This year the Greenwich United Way has invited Diane Garrett of Diane’s Books (dianesbooks.com) and North Street School Literacy Specialist, Karen Sparks-Bakota.

For more information on how to become a Reading Champions volunteer or to make a donation please visit Greenwich United Way online (greenwichunitedway.org), call Greenwich United Way at (203) 869-2221 or email Program Coordinator, Marie Wardell (mwardell@greenwichunitedway.org).

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About Greenwich United Way Reading Champions

Greenwich United Way Reading Champions is a literacy program partnering Greenwich youth with community volunteers in an effort to build fluency skills during the school year. Since 2008, Reading Champions volunteers have assisted over 2,500 children in achieving individual reading goals in fluency. By enabling students to obtain immediate feedback and receive one-on-one personal attention, the program has been a resounding and proven success. In conjunction with the Greenwich Public School reading curriculum, Reading Champions contributes to the development and growth of students’ fluency. Currently Greenwich United Way Reading Champions serves 10 of 11 elementary schools in Greenwich and the Byram Archibald Neighborhood Center (BANC), Community Centers, Inc. of Greenwich (CCI), Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich (BGCG), and the Y.W.C.A. of Greenwich. Volunteer tutors are trained, no teaching experience is needed, and tutoring opportunities are always available.

About Greenwich United Way
The Greenwich United Way shares a name with approximately 1,400 other similar organizations across the nation, although the Greenwich, Connecticut division is a privately incorporated, locally governed, nonprofit agency. As a volunteer driven organization, the Greenwich United Way exists to help identify and address the human service needs specific to its local community and to create and affect meaningful solutions. Through various fundraising efforts, the organization is able to directly allocate the funds necessary to accomplish this goal. The Greenwich United Way also invests in and conducts collaborative efforts to address broad based community needs with partnering nonprofit agencies.

*Photo (L to R): Steve DeLuca and David Rabin
Contributed by Greenwich United Way