by Denise Gary
Photograph by Denise Gary
Determination and perseverance move the world. –Marva Collins
Joyful news just came in the mail—Kids Need to Read (KNTR) has received its first grant funding for the Kids-N-Peace program! The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Arizona (ECF Boeing AZ) has awarded a very generous $5,000 gift to the project! We are very excited, as we have been working with Children First Academy to produce the program for their entire student bodies (K-9) at both campuses in Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. Plus there are other schools we are making plans to assist. We are going to need A LOT of books!
This is the second gift KNTR has received from ECF Boeing AZ. The organization provided $2,500 to the Reading Revolution program in 2012. Well wishes were extended to KNTR in a letter accompanying the latest contribution on behalf of ECF Boeing AZ and the employees who contribute to the fund:
It is our hope that this charitable contribution will enable continued success in your mission to provide quality services in our community.
The Kids-N-Peace program is designed to support literacy education, as well as help students cope with bullying, learn peaceful conflict resolution techniques, and develop effective leadership skills. The Peace Packs Book Collection is the backbone of Kids-N-Peace, which also features related activities and live presentations to fulfill the goals of the program. According to dosomething.org, approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying, and one out of ten students ultimately drops out due to repeated bullying. The issues of bullying, school violence, and lack of peaceful leadership skills are pervasive menaces to children and experience has taught that self-empowerment through education is the key to breaking the cycle of violence.
Many thanks also to those of you who have provided funds for Peace Packs to be sent to schools across the nation! We want to send out as many as we possibly can, so please donate to the KNTR Peace Packs to help expand this new initiative.
