Happy holidays and we hope that you are doing well! This has been a very challenging year for all of us due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. However, we still have so much to be thankful for this holiday season.
Chapter 22 UM-UMBC is a proud partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) and the St. Vincent De Paul Early Head Start Center to increase early childhood literacy and encourage a love of reading. Again, we turn to those children and families in the Park Heights community that we serve through our early childhood literacy program. For the past eight years, members and friends of our chapter have donated over $12,000 in sponsorship of children in Baltimore’s Park Heights community.
Thanks to those donors, 43 pre-school children are currently receiving a book each month that helps them to develop a love of reading, learning, and language. We have collected stories over the years from the community center about the joy children express when they receive this book: they request it to be read to them, pay attention to new words and beautiful illustrations, carry the book around as a prized possession, and proudly share the book with others. We are encouraged by their enthusiasm, and we continue to maintain our relationship with the St. Vincent De Paul Early Head Start Center to provide more of these experiences.
Our goal this holiday season is to serve as many families and children as we can. We hope you will help us send the gift of books to more children this year. Research and evaluation studies show that supporting literacy and learning in early childhood is one of the best ways to prepare children to succeed in school and in life. We hope you will be able to help us to bring joy to a child's life and encourage a life-long love of reading and learning.
- A gift of $25 sends one book per month to one child for one year
- A gift of $125 sends one book per month to one child from birth to age five
- A gift of $500 sends one book per month to each child in a family for five years
PKP is a not-for-profit, 501-c-3 organization, and your contribution is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Contributions can be made by check, electronic transfer or by credit card.
Ways to Donate:
1. Mail a check to Carrie Sauter, Treasurer (please refer to the PKP email for her address or email csauter@umbc.edu)
2. Contact Carrie Sauter to get account information for an electronic transfer of funds
3. Click on the website linked to donate through PayPal or by credit card. Please note that a portion of your donation goes to PayPal for administrative fees.
If you want more information about making a contribution, please email Carrie at csauter@umbc.edu.
Thank you so much for your support for our literacy project. We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.
-James Hamilton and Carrie Sauter