Read to Ride Program Continues Despite Fire at Dependable Cleaners

On Saturday, July 14, a four-alarm fire destroyed the Dependable Cleaners corporate headquarters at 320 Quincy Ave. in Quincy, Mass. While the building was a total loss, all staff was able to evacuate the building safely. Unfortunately, all of the entry forms submitted to date for the 2012 Read to Ride initiative were destroyed in the fire. Despite the loss of the forms, Christa Hagearty, President of Dependable Cleaners, is committed to keeping the educational initiative moving forward.

Read to Ride is designed to encourage students to keep up the challenging momentum of school while fostering the love of reading and staying healthy during summer vacation. Students ages 6-15 have the chance to win a bike or another exciting prize for every book they read. Since the program’s inception in 1999, more than 59,000 books have been read.

“Despite the loss of the store, this is also a teaching moment that allows us to demonstrate toc hildren how to move forward during difficult times,” said Hagearty. “We saw great momentum in the program this year and we want that to continue. We encourage everyone to resubmit their forms and continue to read throughout the summer.”

Children are encouraged to resubmit their forms or to read additional books and submit those forms to the program, which will now be extended to Monday, August 20th. The program will resume picking one grand prize bike winner and runner-up award winners on Monday, July 23. The grand prize winner each week will receive a new bike and helmet. Two additional winners will receive a gift card to a local sporting goods store or activity in Greater Boston.

Entry forms will be available at all Dependable Cleaners locations, including the , and delivery routes, Farina’s Bike Store in Watertown, David’s Bike Infirmary in Milton, local libraries and online at DependableCleaners.com/Read-Ride.

Read to Ride 2012 is sponsored by Dependable Cleaners in conjunction with Farina’s Bicycle Center, Dave’s Bike Infirmary, Buttonwood Books, Newtonville Books, The Patriot Ledger and Patch.com. For more information about Read to Ride 2012, printable entry forms, and terms and conditions of the program, visit www.DependableCleaners.com/read-ride.

–Dependable Cleaners