100 Men Reading Day seeks volunteers

For the second consecutive year, the Learning Institute at Christiana Care is joining United Way of Delaware in sponsoring 100 Men Reading Day in our community.

The Learning Institute invites men to a kick-off breakfast on Tuesday, May 15, at 7:30 a.m. in the John H. Ammon Medical Education Center Main Auditorium on the Christiana Hospital Campus. After choosing a set of books, they will join other men to go to elementary schools in the community to read aloud to students.

The school visits don’t just promote literacy. They also encourage men to get involved as positive role models for children in the community, according to Rosa Colon-Kolacko, Ph.D., MBA, Christiana Care’s senior vice president of System Learning and Chief Diversity Officer. Studies indicate many children lack a male role model in their lives, she says.

Christiana Care’s First State School for chronically ill children, a collaboration with the Delaware Department of Education through the Red Clay Consolidated School District, welcomed a reader last year.

“I truly enjoyed partnering with our Christiana Care Learning Institute and the United Way to make this day happen,” said Coleen O’Connor, First State School program director.

Last year, Christiana Care employees also read to students at Thomas Edison Charter School and Kuumba Academy Charter School.

“It was great to have an opportunity to volunteer to encourage kids to read,” said Terrence Townsend, operations manager in Environmental Services at Christiana Hospital.

The 100 Men Reading Day is a program of the American Literacy Corporation (ALC), a non-profit organization that promotes reading to elementary school students. Since 2001, the ALC has promoted reading to more than 110,000 children in all 50 states.

If you would like to participate, call 302-420-1819 or e-mail bvfriendsofthechildren@yahoo.com.