The Panhandle Alliance for Education’s READY! for Kindergarten program, which supports early childhood literacy in our region through free parent workshops, is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from the S.L. Gimbel Foundation Fund – The Community Foundation Serving the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. Celia Cudiamat, the Community Foundation’s Executive Vice President, explains, “Our donors, who have been very generous to our region, are interested in providing grants to exemplar nonprofit organizations outside of California. For the past two years over $2.5 million has been awarded to out-of-state nonprofits. After a thorough decision-making process, The Community Foundation Serving the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino has determined that the Panhandle Alliance for Education’s READY! for Kindergarten program fits our exacting grant award criteria.“
Dr. Jonathan Lorenzo Yorba is the President/CEO of The Community Foundation Serving the Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. Explaining the mission of the Foundation, he says, “The Community Foundation funds the work of nonprofits through gifts to causes and organizations important to donors and competitive grant-making to fund strategic change and impact in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve. We could not improve the lives of residents in the two counties without the work of nonprofits who do their good work to make a difference in people's lives.”
READY! for Kindergarten’s Fall, Winter and Spring Sandpoint workshops are offered free to parents, grandparents and other caregivers of children from birth to the age of five. If parents begin attending READY! when their child is a newborn, they can take 15 unique workshops – with 15 unique, free sets of toys, games, music and activities – which will help them learn how to “play with a purpose” and teach their child the skills needed for a successful school experience. Each season’s workshops are held on a Saturday morning from 10 – 11:30 a.m. (new attendees also attend an orientation at 9:30 a.m.). The workshops focus on three different areas of child development: Fall – Literacy and Learning; Winter – Math and Reasoning; Spring – Social and Emotional Growth. Thanks to funding by the Panhandle Alliance for Education, READY! for Kindergarten attendees also receive a free book every month for their child, through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library
To register for the October 12th READY! for Kindergarten session, please visit the website at www.readysandpoint.org, or call the Alliance office, 208-263-7040. Because the workshops fill up quickly, it is best to register as soon as possible. For more information on the READY! for Kindergarten program, please go to the national website, www.readyforkindergarten.org
The Panhandle Alliance for Education is a nonprofit organization composed of local citizens, businesses, and educators. Their mission is to promote excellence in education and broad-based community support for the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Donations are distributed as a working pool of money used to fund local teacher grants, a district-wide reading program, college/career guidance opportunities for high school students, and READY! For Kindergarten, an early childhood literacy program for families. To learn more about PAFE, or to make an on-line donation, visit the website at www.panhandlealliance.com or call the Executive Director, Marcia Wilson, at 208-263-7040. You can also visit our Facebook page; please be sure to “like” us!
