“I’m saving you money!” That’s the conclusion I came to recently when I was talking with a group of employees at a local company about becoming Readers for Lead to Read. Many of the employees said their lunch hour is often spent shopping on the internet or dropping several dollars on lunch at a restaurant. Now, instead of spending money during the lunch hour, these employees have decided to spend one lunch hour a week reading with Lead to Read.
Starting in October, Lead to Read has been tapping into our business community to recruit Readers. Our goal is to identify companies that can provide groups of employees to champion/adopt classrooms together. The initial response has been very positive. Three years ago, Burns and McDonnell spearheaded our business partnership with nearly 80 Readers in three classrooms at Boone Elementary in south Kansas City. This group has expanded and is now reading in six classrooms each week. This year we are pleased to announce similar business partnerships with CBIZ, DST, MVP Law, and Populous. And most recently we have forged a new partnership with the Kansas City Police Department, placing law enforcement Readers in our classrooms to help foster positive community relationships in our urban core.
Employees like Reading for Lead to Read because they can volunteer using their lunch hour and not give up evenings or weekends. It also builds camaraderie among employees because Lead to Read encourages carpooling. And most importantly, our Readers love making a difference in young people’s lives.
If you know of a business or organization that may be interested in partnering with Lead to Read or making a financial contribution, please send me the contact information.
Together we are creating a community of Readers!