The funds from these donations will help Burning Through Pages to expand our program to Pueblo, CO. We have willing and anxious volunteers that want to get a program started but we do not currently have the resources to start and support a long-distance program from Denver. Pueblo has a Boys & Girls Club with many low-income kids, surrounded by a struggling community. We would like to provide the same services and positive influences to the kids there that Denver kids benefit from currently.
Pueblo has a high level of at-risk youth where students have reported not having many opportunities to be involved in positive programs. Drugs, teen pregnancy, and low-income make it difficult to kids to get ahead. Many of the students have consistently low grades, truancy issues, and behavioral issues. They are not engaged at school and many of them are several grade levels below in their reading ability.
Funds gained for this project would allow us to send some of our Denver staff down to Pueblo to help get the program started there. We could provide the support, encouragement, resources, and materials (ie. books) needed to launch and sustain a successful program in Pueblo. We engage with the kids every time we read. We help foster a belief that reading is fun, an escape, and a chance to share and achieve our deepest hopes and desires.
That is quite simple. If we can increase the productivity of this organization, the benefits are 10-fold! For the kids: reading levels, critical thinking, vocabulary, writing skills, interpersonal skills, confidence in reading out loud and interacting, healthy replacement of activities, comprehension, passion for reading, and creativity. For bookstores/libraries: reviving paper literature (proven to increase learning)! Authors: introducing their works to kids, encouraging them to read more!
