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Literacy Champions (volunteer coordinators)
Literacy Champions (LC) have an opportunity to give volunteer opportunities to people who are often overlooked. When considering how to expand the impact of your organization, business, or church, remember to be creative.
Remember: To be a volunteer, all a person needs is to 1) see the need, 2) care about children, and 3) be able to read at a reasonable level.
Being a reading mentor may be a perfect role for:
Grandmas and Grandpas
They may be well past their camp counselor days, but they know that they still have much to offer. Who better to be a reading mentor than someone who has free time in the middle of the day, knows better than anyone what is most important in life, and just happens to have spent a lifetime reading books to children and grandchildren?
Stay-at-home Parents
Once those toddlers grow a little and head off to preschool, that house can feel really empty and really quiet. Sure, the new privacy might be a nice reprieve, but eventually, everyone needs to know that they are making a difference. One hour of break to walk down to the public school once a week and be a reading mentor might be just what the doctor ordered.
Teenagers
We like to say that being a reading mentor is the perfect job for anybody 17-75 years old, but the number expands beyond that. There are teenagers (sometimes ones who don’t feel like the “cool kids”) who want to serve. Be they academic, activistic, or apathetic, being the new best friend to a 9-year-old might be just the thing they need.
Swing-shift Workers
Nine-to-five careers allow volunteers to take a 1-hour lunch break to read to kids, but people who work non-traditional hours have even more freedom during school hours.
These are a few groups of people that you may or may not have thought of. Now that the creative juices flow, who else would make great mentors?
