/PRNewswire/ -- Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is taking part in the first official Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, a day established by President Obama and Congress to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11 through acts of community service.
In honor of September 11, RIF will sign a partnership agreement with the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. This new partnership will help improve literacy resources for American Indian children and families nationally. With RIF programs across the country, the event will kick off with a special synchronous read-aloud for 11 minutes of the children's book 14 Cows for America -- the moving story of the generosity of one village in response to the 9/11 attacks on America.
"The tragic events of September 11, 2001, inspired Americans to action and unified us as a nation," said Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. "The memory of September 11 continues to inspire us to serve our neighbors, our communities, and our country. We are pleased to join this national effort and thank the President for making this call to service."
On this historic and symbolic day, RIF will also culminate its Read For Change campaign in support of United We Serve, President Obama's call to service. This summer, RIF teamed up with Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity and Broadway star Fantasia Barrino to challenge Americans across the country to collectively log 3 million minutes of reading with children by September 11, 2009. Today, we reached and surpassed the goal, logging over 3,051,000 minutes of reading with children at home and in their communities.
In addition to the Read For Change campaign, RIF hosted a series of community-focused children's literacy events in partnership with national and local organizations:
-- "Ice Cream Social" -- a literacy celebration hosted by the
Shoshone-Bannock Early Childhood RIF program at the Fort Hall Indian
Reservation in Idaho, which included special guest readers from the
office of Senator Jim Risch.
-- "United We Read" -- a week-long literacy celebration in partnership
with the National PTA and Communities In Schools-New Orleans. In six
New Orleans schools, 2,500 children received free books and
resource-filled backpacks. Also joining this unique project were
actor/comedian Harry Shearer, New Orleans Hornets broadcaster Gil
McGregor and award-winning children's book author Whitney Stewart.
-- Kentucky Literacy celebrations -- held in Irvine, Paris, and
Georgetown, Ky., in partnership with the office of Congressman Ben
Chandler, to honor 6,257 local RIF volunteers in Kentucky who annually
distribute more than 320,000 books to nearly 85,000 children each
year.
-- "Share the Message: READ!" -- a family literacy event at the Coronita
Elementary School in Corona, Calif., sponsored by Pitney Bowes.
-- Nationwide Book Distribution -- RIF, Reach Out and Read, and Pioneers
each matched funding from First Book to double the number of books
reaching community programs serving at-risk children delivering 98,000
books in local literacy programs nationwide.
"One of the best ways to honor the heroes and victims of 9/11 is by reaching out in service to others," said Rasco. "Through our many efforts in support of United We Serve and our new partnership with NIEA to strengthen American Indian communities, we hope our efforts will inspire more Americans to make an ongoing commitment to serving our nation's children."
RIF invites all Americans to discover the impact of RIF in their community, experience local success stories, and explore local RIF volunteer opportunities at http://www.rif.org/maps.
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