Making An Impact One Book at A Time

Date: April 5, 2019

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Alpha Chi National Honor Society selected RIF as their philanthropy partner for the 2018-19 school year. In addition to raising funds to support RIF’s mission, members participated in a service project as part of their annual convention in Cleveland. All Alpha Chi members were invited to contribute books to a book drive as part of convention activities. More than 125 books were collected! Then, 20 Alpha Chi members participated in a service event at Paul Dunbar Academy where they delivered the books collected, helped each first-grade student select 3 free books, participated in a craft project with them and enjoyed small group reading with the students. Volunteers and students alike had a great afternoon!

LESSONS LEARNED

• College students are committed, engaged, and active volunteers to utilize for a literacy event.
• The honor society leveraged several pathways to maximize their literacy impact:
• An online fundraiser that generated more than $1,500 in support of RIF’s mission
• A convention book drive to benefit a local RIF program site: a popular option for civic groups around the country
• An in-person service event at the local RIF site to distribute books to children and enjoy one-on-one reading which gave both the children and the volunteers a meaningful experience