United Way of Lake County's Women's Leadership Council Allocates $47,000 Towards Funding for Early Literacy Programs

LAKE COUNTY, IL (June 17, 2015)-United Way of Lake County’s (UWLC) Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) allocated $47,000 of its funding through its Little Kids, Big Futures Philanthropy Fund to support four critical childhood literacy programs, that will ensure the foundation for strong and successful academic futures for Lake County’s most vulnerable children.

Directed by WLC members, the following programs will receive grants this summer:

$22,000 – B.E.S.T. Kindergarten Readiness Program(In Partnership with B.E.S.T, a group of service providers that work together to improve the lives in Round Lake)

Funding will provide scholarships for a classroom of children ages 3-5 years old who would not otherwise have access to preschool.

$12,000 – Success By 6 - Kindergarten Countdown Camp

The funds will be used to execute the first year of this summer camp program to prepare children, in Waukegan, who have had no preschool experience for their new roles as Kindergarten students.

$9,000 – Success By 6 - Expand to Zion

The grant is for program expansion of Success By 6 into Zion for the first time, with baseline assessment and Early Learning Clubs for approximately 45 families in Zion.

$4,000 – Reading Success - Summer Enrichment Collaborative

(A partnership with Waukegan Public Library, Waukegan Park District, United Way and the Kohl Children’s Museum)

Funds will be used to provide scholarships for 10 Waukegan school children in need, to participate in a program to address summer learning loss.

As women united in Lake County, Little Kids Big Futures is an initiative of the WLC Philanthropy Fund, established 17 months ago, to ensure that children living in Lake County’s most challenged communities are prepared for kindergarten and ready to succeed. Through the philanthropy fund, grants totaling $26,000 were distributed to three early literacy programs in Lake County last year, to support a Kindergarten Camp, a Summer Enrichment Program and a comprehensive tutoring program for Pre-K students in North Chicago.

“The year 2014-2015 has been an incredible year for WLC as our Little Kids Big Futures Philanthropy Fund has grown over 80%, which allowed us fund more programs this year”, says Tejal R Vakharia, Chair of theLittle Kids, Big Futures Philanthropy Fund Committee. “WLC has grown and we are now over 70 women strong. Committed and growing each member of the WLC makes an annual gift of $1,000 or more and the first $500 of every member’s contribution goes into the Little Kids Big Futures Philanthropy Fund. Also, our signature fundraising event Power of the Purse netted $15,000 in 2014 which majorly contributed to the increase in the funding allocations”, she added.

Thinking ahead to 2015 and beyond, UWLC’s Women’s Leadership Council is positioned to continue mobilizing women through leadership and resource development to support critical early literacy programs that will change the educational futures for Lake County’s most vulnerable children.

To learn how you can get involved in UWLC’s Women’s Leadership Council and to know about the Little Kids, Big Futures Philanthropy Fund Guidelines, please contact Social Enterprise and Affinity Group Manager, Diana Mines Nielander, at 847.775.1000 or at Diana.Nielander@uwlakeco.org.

About United Way of Lake County:

United Way of Lake County (UWLC) is preparing our children to succeed in a changing world by focusing on education and building safe and stable families. We are focusing on four key educational programs: Success By 6 Program—prepare for kindergarten; Reading Success Program—read at grade level; Stay in School Program— graduate high school; and the Safe and Stable Families Program—empowering families. UWLC is overcoming reading and educational barriers by reaching children, from preschool through high school, through these key programs. The overall effect and benefits are multiplied by the strong collaboration with agencies and our community partners. For more information, visitwww.LIVEUNITEDlakecounty.org.

About Women’s Leadership Council:

In Lake County, the Women’s Leadership Council is made up of over 70 women who are dedicated to unite leadership and resources to make a difference through volunteerism, philanthropy and leadership development. Nationally, United Way Women’s Leadership Councils is the most successful philanthropic network of its kind. It consists of a diverse network of caring, influential women collaborating to United Way’s call to action with its propriety platform that mobilizes women through leadership, service and giving a network that focuses on early childhood literacy. Nationally, WLCs of United Ways include over 55,000 women from 143 countries. Within the last decade, WLC have joined together to focus on the building blocks for a good life—Education, Income and Health—and have collectively contributed more than one billion dollars to further these efforts. For more information, visit www.LIVEUNITEDlakecounty.org/WLC

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