Hi friends and family! You may not know this, but in addition to being a working hockey mom who used to travel a LOT for work, I’m on the Board of Achieve Now and have been working with them as both a student coach and a Board member for over six years now. With the sudden death of our Board chair and good friend, I took the lead as Board chair and now more than ever need to share the story of my commitment and passion.  

I have always loved to read and have been inspired to serve this organization in order to help Philadelphia school children find a love for reading too. Having grown up in a very small town (600 people) but with a mother who regularly read with us as children, I always had my nose in a book. I did not realize what a privilege that was until moving to Philadelphia and discovering the literacy crisis that exists. Now, due to COVID-19 school closures in the Spring, children in Philadelphia have lost over 390 hours of in-person instruction. As we move into the school year with remote learning, the deficit continues to grow. 

Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for literacy assistance in our schools. You can help provide high-quality learning resources for the kids who need it most by supporting our annual campaign! The team at Achieve Now has worked throughout quarantine to develop an online remote curriculum allowing one-on-one literacy instruction sessions with corporate volunteer coaches that are monitored and managed by Achieve Now reading specialists. We are very excited about our ability to continue to offer literacy services to those who need it most in these very challenging circumstances. 

You can make a difference to Philadelphia’s children by donating. No amount is too small; $5 will buy a leveled reading book, and a generous gift of $300 can sponsor tutoring for one child for an entire year!

Thank you for reading my story to the end and feel free to message me if you would like additional details. I always enjoy sharing Achieve Now’s great work!