Boynton Beach, FL – September 2020 –Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County a $2,000 grant to support youth literacy initiatives. This local grant award is part of more than $4 million in grants awarded this fall to nearly 850 nonprofit organizations, libraries and schools across the 46 states that Dollar General serves.
Literacy Coalition’s Building Better Readers program continues to help children build reading skills. Trained volunteers are placed in first and second grade classrooms to tutor struggling readers in reading comprehension. During the 2019-2020 school year, 166 volunteers tutored 396 first and second grade students in 24 elementary schools and an additional 25 volunteers tutored 41 first through fourth grade students after school at the Literacy Coalition, for a total of 191 volunteers tutoring 437 students. When schools closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, we began virtual tutoring for 19 of our afterschool students so they could continue to strengthen their reading skills. We expanded this, adding an additional 41 students.
“After 30+ years as an elementary teacher, I have found a new love and purpose. Jose, a first grader, started as a low Level D reader and made a leap to Level J grade level, with much joy in his accomplishment. Jose began to read for meaning. He would pause to reflect on whether the word he read made sense. If it didn’t, he self-corrected and reread on his own. He loved the one-on-one time and would share that he “loved to read now”. -Karen, aka Miss KK, Volunteer Tutor
“This year, many teachers, libraries and literacy organizations are facing new challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer and Dollar General Literacy Foundation board member. “Despite the unprecedented obstacles, we admire the tremendous efforts and commitments from educators as they work to provide students with the tools they need to develop their literacy skills. We hope these funds will help support their plans to advance learning and deliver quality instruction in our hometown communities.”
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $186 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 12 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.
About Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
The Literacy Coalition is a not for profit organization committed to ensuring that every resident of Palm Beach County, Florida is able to read. In Palm Beach County, 22.2% of adults lack basic literacy skills and is unable to read and understand information found in books, newspapers and manuals. Nearly half of all third graders in our county are not reading on grade level. Through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners, the Literacy Coalition strives to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. This year, the Literacy Coalition provided services to more than 29,000 adults, children and families through 11 programs in 169 sites from Jupiter to Boca Raton to Belle Glade. We teach adults with low literacy skills in the workplace and in community centers. We work with pediatricians to introduce low-income families to the importance of reading with their children. We provide reading partners who share books weekly with three-year-old children to help them blossom into life-long readers. We oversee a home visiting program that encourages verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their preschool children. We coordinate up to 40 Literacy AmeriCorps members who serve as tutors for children and adults and as graduation coaches to aid struggling high school students. We support and encourage literacy programs and initiatives throughout the county.
About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $186 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 12 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation provides financial support to schools, nonprofit organizations and libraries within a 15-mile radius of Dollar General stores and distribution centers. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation or apply for a literacy grant, visit www.dgliteracy.org.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for more than 80 years through its mission of Serving Others. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares and seasonal items at everyday low prices in convenient neighborhood locations. Dollar General operated 16,720 stores in 46 states as of July 31, 2020. In addition to high-quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com.
# # #
