Friends of Aurora’s After-School Programs (FAAP) announces the receiving of a grant from the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley to purchase books and supplies needed for its reading mentor programs and family reading night programs. Through its reading mentor programs, for the past 14 years, FAAP has provided trained one-on-one mentors for 150-250 children each week in Aurora’s elementary schools. FAAP bases its programs on the statistic that if a student is not reading at grade level by the end of third grade, there is a 74% chance that he/she will never catch up. FAAP’s reading mentor programs work to combat this alarming statistic by giving elementary school struggling readers 25 weeks of one-on-one reading help. The relationship that develops between the mentor and the student is the “magic” that makes FAAP’s programs succeed.
FAAP launched a new initiative this past November in collaboration with the Aurora Public Library and East Aurora School District 131 to begin Family Reading Nights at the Santori Aurora Public Library. The goals of these family reading nights are to get Aurora families to the library, educate them on all the resources it has to offer, sign them up for a library card and to emphasize the importance of reading for their children. For children who are growing up in poverty, books are scarce. This grant from the Community Foundation will help Aurora families tackle the biggest barrier to literacy, access to books. By helping Aurora’s low-income families utilize the Aurora Public Library, keeping the elementary school libraries open, and providing engaging activities, FAAP strives to get children excited about books and reading at an early age.
About the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley
The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is a non-profit, tax-exempt, philanthropic organization that administers individual charitable funds from which grants and scholarships are distributed to benefit the citizens of the Great Aurora area, the TriCities and Kendall County, Illinois.
Founded in 1948, the Foundation provides a simple and powerful approach to charitable giving. Individuals, families, businesses, and organizations have the opportunity to custom design their own named funds that reflect their charitable goals and interests. Since its inception, the Community Foundation has grown to nearly $89 million in assets and has awarded more than $63 million in grants and scholarships.
For more information on the Foundation, visit: www.CommunityFoundationFRV.org.
