Yellow Bags Prepare our Kindergarteners for the Fall
By Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director
When I was a child, I had my own library. This little library in my bedroom had a decimal system to file and sort my books and the check-in system was super official in my eyes. The visual of those books and me reading them in my room are locked in my memories. Looking back, I see how fortunate I was to have a book, much less a whole library.
There are children in Charlotte County who do not even own one book. Truth. It may seem unbelievable to many of us, but according to the US Department of Education, up to 61 percent of low-income families do not have any books for their kids at home. Forty-five percent of US children live in neighborhoods that lack public libraries and stores that sell books, or in homes where books are unaffordable and a luxury.
That’s where the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR) comes in. The United Way of Charlotte County (UWCC) is the lead agency in Charlotte County working with The Patterson Foundation, the regional accelerator with county-specific work in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties in Florida.
SCGLR has invested in Charlotte County for many years now to ensure Kindergarten Readiness Bags are provided for incoming kindergartners in the months before school begins. So that children can start school ready to learn, these incoming kindergarteners attending public schools and Early Learning Centers in Charlotte County receive a bright yellow readiness bag.
This past Tuesday, over 1150 Kindergarten Readiness Bags were assembled in a record two hours thanks to UWCC volunteers. The Baker Center in
Punta Gorda hosts this event for the community each year and it is quite an impressive event to be part of when witnessing an assembly line of 40 volunteers holding bright yellow canvas bags and stuffing them with two packages of flashcards, literacy charts, magnet lowercase alphabet letters, magnetic uppercase alphabet letters, drawing papers, jumbo crayons, Josh the Otter book and more informational packets.
Jill Swan, UWCC Family Empowerment Director helped to organize the event this year. Swan said, “The volunteers are so helpful and enthusiastic about this project. The nameplate sticker in the Josh the Otter Book is a great detail noting it is possible this is a child’s first book and having a place to put their name in the book could be a meaningful spark for a child who realizes, this book is mine.”
Claudette Smith, UWCC Board Member and Charlotte County Public Schools (CCPS) Public Information Officer says, “Research consistently highlights the correlation between early exposure to books and enhanced communication skills, vocabulary expansion, and overall cognitive development. By immersing children in the world of words, parents and caregivers actively contribute to the building blocks of success that extend into adulthood. Through the Kindergarten Readiness program and Early Childhood Education Programs, we aim to develop this love of reading early on in their educational career.”
Smith continued, “CCPS is extremely grateful for the partnership between the UWCC and The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading through The Patterson Foundation for investing in education and the profound impacts it has on our community.”
Thank you to the SCGLR Connectors, Melissa Hirstein and Shannon Vianello who assist us with these amazing literacy events.
Help us to bring books and the love of reading to every child in our community. It all begins with you. If you would like to help us with literacy programs in Charlotte County such as reading to a child and other grade level reading opportunities, please sign up to be notified at unitedwayccfl.org/volunteer.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.