Reading Is Fundamental, Verizon Invite Families to "Take a Summer Reading Journey"

6/21/2004

From: Sarah Dahlberg of Reading Is Fundamental, 202-673-1616 or sdahlberg@rif.org

WASHINGTON, June 21 -- Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF(r)) and Verizon today announced the launch of "Take a Summer Reading Journey," a public awareness program designed to keep kids reading during the summer months. Through free literacy resources, contests and online reading activities, RIF and Verizon will help thousands of families across the country fight summer learning loss. Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, provided a $150,000 grant for this innovative program.

Studies show that children who stop reading during the summer can lose up to two months of reading achievement. To engage kids in reading activities June through August, RIF and Verizon will provide 100 selected RIF sites with a Summer Reading Journey kit, complete with Verizon Literacy Champion activity posters featuring Scholastic's The Magic School Bus, bookmarks, reading resource booklets for librarians and special "reading journey" maps of the United States. Participating students will select a beginning and end point on the map and read one state-related book for every state between those points.

"Taking a Summer Reading Journey is a great way to guide children to exciting reading activities appropriate for the summer months," said Carol H. Rasco, RIF president and CEO. "Research shows that when kids read during the summer, they do better in school. But just as importantly, summer reading should be fun and help kids discover that books can take them on great adventures anytime."

"As America's Literacy Champion, Verizon is proud to partner with great literacy organizations like RIF to promote literacy nationwide and provide much needed resources for children and their parents," said Kathryn Brown, senior vice president for public policy development and corporate social responsibility at Verizon. "Programs like the Summer Reading Journey provide young people with new tools and additional motivation to maintain their literacy skills against the ever present summer enticements."

Families outside the selected RIF sites can also participate in the Summer Reading Journey by logging on to http://www.rif.org/summer for interactive, summer literacy ideas that will excite children and keep them reading all season long. Site visitors will find advice for using unconventional ways to interest children in reading, including "RIF's Ter-RIF-fic Summer Reading Tips for Families"; reading suggestions for families not taking vacations; and a detailed calendar with reading ideas for each week of the summer. RIF also offers travel-themed activities that can be completed on- or off-line.

Kids of all ages can participate, too, by logging on to view RIF's state-by-state booklist. From June 20 through Aug. 20, kids can read a book on the list and then submit a review through the Reading Planet ( http://www.rif.org/readingplanet ), an interactive website for children. Each week, RIF will select one winner at random, using the winning entry's state as the new weekly theme.

Support of programs like this is part of Verizon's overall commitment to leading the effort to increase literacy levels in the United States. Through its signature Verizon Reads program and the Verizon Literacy Network, the company works to increase community and corporate awareness, raise funds, encourage collaboration among literacy providers and engage employees in supporting literacy programs. For more information on literacy resources in your area visit Verizon Reads at http://www.verizonreads.net.

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., founded in 1966, works to build a literate nation by helping young people discover the joy of reading. RIF's highest priority is to serve the nation's underserved children and families through the development and delivery of literacy programs and campaigns that motivate youth to read regularly. Through a national, grassroots network of 450,000 community volunteers at 25,000 RIF program sites, 5.1 million children are provided with 16.5 million new, free books and other essential literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at http://www.rif.org.

The Verizon Foundation last year awarded 22,000 grants totaling more than $70 million to charitable and nonprofit agencies that focus on improving basic and computer literacy, enriching communities through technology, and creating a skilled work force. For more information on the foundation, visit http://www.verizon.com/foundation.