by Stephanie Rokich
Volunteer Engagement Manager
This year, I’ve challenged some of my friends (and myself) to read 30 books. Some of them may find this to be a huge challenge, and some may think it is easy. Either way, we are all committed to pushing ourselves to spend more time reading.
You may wonder why I was inspired to host a reading challenge. As a child, I devoured books! I loved The Berenstain Bears, Little Critter, Little House on the Prairie, and The Babysitters Club. I begged my parents to take me to the library to check-out the latest books. I was lucky to live near a library and to have parents who were able to buy me books to start my own collection. This enabled my love of reading to blossom, and I still love it today.
Not all kids are so lucky. Many students in United Way of Salt Lake’s community schools don’t have books in their homes. Through initiatives like Startup Santa, UWSL and hundreds of donors are able to get books to thousands of kids and, hopefully, foster a love of reading. The more books in the home, the more likely a child is to read at home. The more a child reads, the better the child reads. This in turn can help a child do better throughout school in all subjects.
Wondering how you can help? In addition to Startup Santa, UWSL connects volunteer readers to schools on Dr. Seuss Day. On March 2, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, you can volunteer to read to students in classrooms and do fun literacy activities with students. Choose from more than a dozen projects going on throughout Salt Lake and Davis counties. Find a project that interests you and sign-up at seuss.uw.org.
Unable to volunteer? Donate $25 to buy a bundle of Dr. Seuss books for low-income elementary school students! Donate here.
Whether you, yourself, pick-up a book and read each day or not, I challenge you to both read more this year AND spend a couple hours reading with a child. You won’t regret the time you spend reading with a child and fostering a love of books!
