Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we've been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!
A Year of Resilience, Repair, and Joy!
Two children reading stories, smiling
Words Alive is determined to deliver hope, joy, and a sense of community to children, teens, and families, in the coming school year. Hear from Words Alive's Program Director, Amanda Bonds, more about how we are aiming to create 100,000 meaningful moments of connection to the power of reading this year.
6,548 Hours of Amazing Volunteer Support
Here at Words Alive, accomplishment of our mission would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers, who are truly the backbone of this organization. Between January and June of this year, our incredible volunteers contributed over 6,548 hours of service which equates to an estimated value of $220,086! Each and every volunteer is essential to our cause. If you’d like to join us, click here.
A Words Alive volunteer holding two books
Thank You Nordson Corporation!
Students carrying young adult novels
Words Alive sincerely thanks Nordson, our long-standing philanthropic partner for over 10 years of support. We are excited to announce that Nordson is now a service partner too! Nordson employees participated in Page Turners, reading and reviewing new books for our curriculum pipelines. Volunteers contributed over 112 hours of service by reading over 7,300 pages and completed 38 book reviews for titles like Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix, The Awakening of Malcolm X, and Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen. We're so grateful to Nordson and look forward to continued partnership.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Statement
Two young children reading together
Words Alive strives to build more inclusive and equitable communities through providing quality, shared reading experiences for children, teens, and families. In May 2021, our Board of Directors renewed our commitment for the same which led to the creation of our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) Statement. Click here to read the full statement and learn more about this commitment.
Welcome New Board Members
Please join us in welcoming two new Board members to our organization, Nick Giordano and Rosemary McDonell-Horita! Nick brings experience in public accounting and finance and this makes him a tremendous addition to help guide our organization's fiscal health. Rosemary's background in advocacy, empowerment, and education adds wonderful perspective to guide our organization's programming. We are thrilled to welcome Nick and Rosemary to our Board of Directors!
A graphic that says “Welcome New Board Members” and has pictures of Nick Giordano and Rosemary McDonnell-Horita
New Words Alive Store
We have a new online store! Find youth and adult shirts, including a newly released 2021-2022 t-shirt with the motto "Plant the read and watch it grow!" designed by one of our volunteers, Evan Cartwright. All proceeds benefit Words Alive!
Join Us
Words Alive is growing! We are thrilled to welcome new team members, including offering meaningful internships providing hands-on experience working with an outstanding team. Click here to learn more.
This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email to learn more.
- Words Alive Storytelling Team