We are climbing Mt. Mansfield in the Race to the Top for kids like Abe and Penny, and 482 more Vermont children who had reading mentors in 25-26. Please support us as we hike and volunteer and run and cycle to keep children reading with mentors in the next year.

Thanks to Anne Graham & Beth Wright for getting fundraising started with a generous sponsorship! And thanks to The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation for a matching grant fof $5000 or the Upper Valley. Thanks to these friends of children, we're a third of the way to our goal!

Special challenge: A generous donor will contribute another $5000 if we raise $30,000 overall. Every dollar really does make a difference!

Abe says he's not really a reader.

But Abe loved reading with his mentor Greg. He preferred scary stories that Greg calls "interesting"! Abe and Greg read together for 3 years until Abe graduated from 5th grade. One year they spent most of the year on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

"As I read, I could tell that Abe was reading ahead, eager to know what was happening next!" said Greg. Not bad for a kid who didn't consider himself a reader. Everybody Wins! mentors help children feel the excitement of reading a good story.

Penny applied to mentor this year. Answering "Why do you want to be a mentor?" Penny said,

Here's Penny with her little sister Ruby and their mentors.

This year, Penny read with a child at Burlington's Sustainability Academy. The cycle of connection and joy and reading goes on, and we take part in the Race to the Top to make sure it keeps on turning.

Thank you so much for supporting us in our mission to keep offering mentors to children like Penny and Abe. We are so grateful!