For the Love of Literacy

United Way of Broward County’s ReadingPals Program shows its volunteers how much they’re appreciated.

United Way of Broward County held the 6th Annual ReadingPals Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on Wednesday, May 30th at Signature Grand in Davie to thank the 300+ volunteers who helped make the sixth year of the ReadingPals program a success. During the past school year, these volunteers cumulatively contributed over 7,200 hours to the ReadingPals program and helped 388 students across Broward County. ReadingPals connects volunteers with Pre-K through 1st grade students to generate a lifetime love of literacy and to improve reading and comprehension skills to ensure children are reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. The program requires that volunteers dedicate one hour per week for 25 weeks during the school year to read to an individual student or in a small group. “The sixth year of ReadingPals has once again exceeded our expectations, and so many students in Broward County have been impacted by the dedicated volunteers sitting here today,” said Kathleen Cannon, President/CEO of United Way of Broward County. “ReadingPals would not have been able to touch so many young lives without the efforts of our volunteers, so this breakfast is a token of our appreciation.”