Mercer Island seniors help promote literacy
Published 10:23 am Monday, August 22, 2011
Upon learning that 61 percent of low income family homes have no books for their children, and that a high percentage of adults in the United States cannot read, a group of residents at Island House, a Merrill Gardens community on Mercer Island, aided in being a part of the solution.
The seniors decorated book plates that will be distributed in books donated to at-risk children while learning about literacy problems in this area and how literacy is essential to lifelong success.
The book plate project started after hearing a presentation from members of the Seattle Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity through an organization called Page Ahead. Last year Page Ahead gave more than 160,000 new books to 55,000 children in need in 28 counties across Washington, many of which were donated through Pi Beta Phi’s literacy projects.
The Seattle Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi aids Page Ahead with motivational reading events to excite kids about reading, provide books to read, share and cherish.
For more, go to www.pageahead.org.
