My Nonprofit Reviews

My first volunteering activity after I retired was Raising Readers in Story County’s (RRSC) Reading Buddies program. I did not have a teaching background, but staff and other volunteers helped me, and I was hooked. Working with 4- and 5-year-old kidos drove home the importance of RRSC’s mission. The kidos were excited as they learned to read and when working in pairs helped each other. When I joined the Board a couple of years later, I was introduced to the Little Free Library program. A fellow Board member told me that many young children do not have any children’s books in their home. She wanted to use the Little Free Library program to get books into the hands of children and to expand to all of Story County. With grants, donations, and volunteers we have helped install thirty-five new Little Free Libraries in parks, childcare centers, pre-schools, schools, and other places where children gather and play. Children throughout Story County have greater access to age-appropriate books as RRSC supports the language and literacy development of young children.