Below is the article that will be published in the Cascadian Life Member Club newsletter, written by the President of the Seattle Council of Qwest Pioneers, Mark Luster :

Readers For Life is the Qwest Pioneer project to help public school teachers and reading specialists get supplemental books for students who are struggling with their reading skills. In most cases the Readers For Life books are for elementary school students in Title 1 programs, or in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs.

The Readers For Life project originated 12 years ago by the Cascadian Council to provide books to students in Eastside schools. Two years later, Cascadian Life Member Club began partnering with Cascadian Council to help Eastside students.  Some years later Cascadian Council and its territory merged into Seattle Council, which is now partnered with Cascadian Life Member Club for assisting Eastside children through Readers For Life.

Since the project began, a total of 11 Washington Councils and Clubs have participated in Readers For Life in their own geographic areas. Over the years the project has won several awards, including Regional awards within the Qwest Pioneers, and two national TelecomPioneers awards. In addition, the TelecomPioneers bestowed a grant on Washington Chapter #30, which helped the project grow in Washington.

In the last couple of years, the Qwest Foundation has generously provided a large grant to Readers For Life, in recognition of its merits as an Educational project.  Some of that Readers For Life grant funding went to participating Clubs and Council in Washington Chapter #30. The rest of this Qwest Foundation grant went to Pioneer Chapters in the States of Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota to help them start up their own Readers For Life projects. These state chapters used information about Readers For Life in Washington Chapter #30 to help them model the project into their own states

In 2009, additional Qwest Foundation grant money is expected to be available to expand the Readers For Life to Pioneer Chapters in the States of Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, and South Dakota.

It is very exciting to know that Readers For Life, which had its origins by the Pioneers on the Eastside, will likely have reached 8 states by the end of 2009. It is hoped that in subsequent years, the Readers For Life project will expand to reach all 14 states in the Qwest Territory!

This is  such a good project to help our elementary students that are weak in the English language and reading skills.  To maximize the best use of your time and funds click here for some suggestions.