South Sound Reading Foundation

Mission

We help families enjoy reading together every day, so all children reach their full potential.

Reading is the most fundamental skill a child needs to succeed in school and in life. It's our mission to bring the joy and promise of books and reading to all South Sound children.

Description

We envision a community where all children read well and enjoy reading. Founded in 2001 as an affiliate of The Children's Reading Foundation, we serve families, schools and communities by providing proven programs, tools and research to help nurture a child's development, especially from birth through third grade. Over 1,400 children, youth, and families (primarily low-income) typically access our programs across Thurston and Mason counties each week - we distributed over 82,000+ free books last year alone! And, we're expanding services into rural Grays Harbor and Lewis counties through community partnerships.

Read together 20 minutes a day! Our programs educate children and families about the importance of reading and strive to get books into the hands of every child, so they have the tools they need to read and succeed:

* Books for the Break - we partner with schools and food banks to deliver 12,000 books to homeless and low-income children so they can read during breaks.
* Literacy Bookshelves - we stock bookshelves at 40 agencies serving low-income children with 14,400+ books so children can take a free book home to read.
* Read to Me - our dedicated volunteers share story time visits and 3000+ free books with children ages 3-5 at Head Start and other childcare facilities monthly.
* Books for Babies - we partner with hospitals to give 2,300+ new board books and literacy information to families with newborns.

With your support, more low-income children, youth, and families will: engage in literacy-rich programming and have access to books of their own; read more frequently; and ultimately, read at or above grade level and graduate.

Recognition

We're grateful to the ongoing support of our board, school district and community partners, funders, supporters, sponsors , and volunteers!

Volunteer

If you would like to volunteer to help at South Sound Reading Foundation events, check our event calendar and contact us at read2me@nthurston.k12.wa.us or at (360) 412-4499