A group of Fort Collins professionals participating in Leadership Fort Collins are seeking donations to help provide a book, blanket, and book light to children at Irish Elementary School. The project, entitled “Cozy Story Time”, is aiming to support Book Trust’s mission to inspire kids’ passion for reading and promote literacy within the school.
In research detailed on the Book Trust website about literacy, the organization explains that children who are not reading proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. According to Susan B. Neuman at the Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at the University of Michigan, “Access to books and educational material is the single biggest barrier to literacy development in the United States and beyond.” Studies also show that book choice and ownership inspires a child’s passion for reading. Book Trust provides books for kids from low-income families – books that they choose themselves and become their very own.
Book Trust currently partners with 60 schools in Colorado and has provided over 311,000 books to students in the state. The Leadership Fort Collins team that has undertaken this project felt a special connection to Irish Elementary School and the impact that can be made for the students there. In late April, Leadership Fort Collins will visit Irish Elementary School to deliver the books, as well as book lights and blankets, to the 110 students in the kindergarten and first grade classes. The book lights and blankets will provide additional excitement to Book Trust’s delivery by providing the tools to make reading an even more special and exciting activity for the students.
Donations to this project will help Leadership Fort Collins support the Book Trust mission and work in our community, and provide the team with the capacity to purchase the book lights and blankets for the students. Donations can be made online at ColoradoGives.org/CozyStoryTime or by check to Book Trust with “Leadership Fort Collins” in the memo line and mailed to 789 Sherman Street, Suite 300A , Denver, CO 80203. A donation will
Leadership Fort Collins is a program of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce aimed at informing Fort Collins professionals about the history, government, economy, social issues, needs, and opportunities in the community. The program is designed to broaden participant knowledge of the community while enhancing leadership skills and encouraging contribution to the betterment of the Fort Collins community. As a requirement of the class, participants are asked to complete a “Done in a Day” project for the benefit of a Fort Collins’ group or organization.