African American Leadership Council and volunteers give students encouragement to remain active readers during the summer

 

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Thanks to generous community support, Trident United Way’s African American Leadership Council (AALC) will be distributing more than 2,000 books for summer reading to St. Stephen and E.B. Ellington Elementary Schools in St. Stephen and Ravenel respectively.

The AALC surpassed its goal of 2,200 books to be donated to students thanks to community support and a dedicated group of donors. This is the sixth year Trident United Way’s AALC has done this valuable community service. The goal is to avoid the “summer slide, where students, especially those from low-income families, tend to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year.

Volunteers and donors made all the difference to help families who may not have financial resources for summer reading exercises.

VIDEO: Click below for a downloadable link of Trident United Way volunteers working to sort and pack books and soundbites from volunteer Jennifer Brown, AALC member.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s945njty9ulfvme/AALCBookDrive6-2021.mp4?dl=0

SOUNDBITE 1: “This is so great because we’re always trying to avoid the summer slide and we’re always encouraging reading.” 

SOUNDBITE 2: “The sooner you can get children loving books, the better it will be for the whole community. We are excited and are looking forward to our schools that have been selected to have a fun summer reading their books.”

Pictured below: book deliveries at E.B. Ellington and St. Stephen Elementary Schools accepting books for summer reading programs.

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