Family Support Hawaii receives $1,100 “Reading Is Fundamental” grant to purchase books for local community
Family Support Hawaii receives $1,100 “Reading Is Fundamental” grant to purchase books for local community
Family Support Hawaii has been awarded a $1,100 grant from Reading Is Fundamental, the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. This grant, which is funded by Macy’s, will be used to purchase books for free distribution to children served by FSH’s various programs and to other children in the local community.
“We are honored to receive this grant and would like to thank Macy’s and RIF for helping us better serve the families in our community,” said Shannon Ramirez, FSH’s RIF coordinator. “Reading opens the door to so many opportunities, and this grant will help us develop lifelong readers among our local children.”
Ramirez also credits the local community in supporting and participating in RIF events that are designed to motivate children and families to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
“It seems incredible for a book to launch a life, but it happens every day as hungry, inquisitive young minds reach out and grab hold of the new people, places and ideas that books bring them,” she said.
For more information, contact RIF coordinator Shannon Ramirez at 334-4111.
Shannon Ramirez awarded national fellowship to attend “Reading Is Fundamental” program in Washington, D.C.
Shannon Ramirez has been awarded a national fellowship by Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. Ramirez, who serves as the RIF coordinator for Family Support Hawaii, is one of 25 people nationally to be offered a fellowship to attend Fundraising Is Fundamental: Development Strategies for RIF Programs, funded by Macy’s. The program will be held in Washington, D.C., in early May.
The program was developed in response to RIF’s recent loss of federal funding. With a goal to discuss fundraising ideas and challenges, the program’s findings will eventually be shared with all RIF programs across the U.S.
“I am very grateful and honored to be selected to represent the state of Hawaii,” Ramirez said. “But this has been a group effort involving FSH employees and RIF volunteers who have worked hard to make our local RIF events so successful. Our success has come to the attention of RIF headquarters, and my appointment will allow me the chance to give back to our community by sharing the best practices I’ll learn in Washington.”
Whether in schools, homeless shelters or community centers — wherever you find children — RIF volunteers spend countless hours distributing books, staging reading motivation activities and promoting the importance of literacy in the community. RIF delivers free books and literacy resources to those children who need them most. The seeds of inspiration within books motivate children to follow their dreams, achieve their potential, and become lifelong readers.
For more information, contact RIF coordinator Shannon Ramirez at 334-4111.