CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – Hundreds of people are expected to virtually gather on Thursday morning for Reading Partners’ annual Books and Breakfast fundraising event.

Reading Partners is a program that pairs tutors with students from area schools who need help improving their literacy and reading levels.

The goal this year with the Books and Breakfast event is to sponsor at least 150 students who are currently enrolled in the program.

“Each week our students take home a brand new book to keep and build their personal library,” says Kecia Greenho, Senior Executive Director of Reading Partners SC.

This year’s Books & Breakfast theme aims to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of Reading Partners students. They want to ensure that children have more diverse books in addition to helping them learn to read. That’s why they launched the Miscellaneous books project who will transform their Take the reading with you. Young readers will see themselves and their own communities reflected on their shelves.

“We know when students are represented they see themselves in books, that is really what sparks the love of reading,” Greenho said. “So we made a commitment to provide various new books to every student in our program. We hope to see at least 600 students in our program this year – so that’s a lot of books. Books and Breakfast will help us in this commitment.

Many students continue to catch up with their missed learning delay due to COVID-19. But low-income families have been hit the hardest. This year, they hope to sponsor at least 150 students at this fundraising event. Each sponsored student in the program will receive 10+ new books to build their own collection. For some, they will be the only ones available at home to practice their reading skills and inspire their dreams.

According to Greenho, each student in the program receives about $ 1,500 in private philanthropy. So it would be as much to sponsor a student. This amount provides over 20 one-on-one tutoring sessions, training for tutors, a full-time support system in each school, and books that go home with the children.

The Books and Breakfast event starts at 9 a.m. If you would like to register for the free fundraiser, go here: https://donations.readingpartners.org/event/reading-partners-south-carolina/e358660

In addition to funds, Reading Partners needs volunteers for tutoring. About 900 volunteers are needed this school year and, at present, they have about half of them.

“This is our community coming together in a very intentional way to tell our students that their lives matter,” said Greenho. “This reading matters to them. And that’s what we need from our community. We need them to live up to their time, their treasure and their talent.

This year, tutors can meet students at their respective schools or through the organization’s virtual platform. With Reading Partners, you can volunteer as many hours as you want, but you only have to devote one hour per week.

If you would like to learn more or register to become a volunteer, go here: https://readingpartners.org/location/south-carolina/

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