Catalyst – it’s a person or thing that precipitates an event. Stimulus. Spark. Spur. Impetus — all are associated synonyms.
I was driving behind somebody recently whose license place was CATALST. Cool. What an unexpected –and great– reminder (maybe even a confirmation, if you believe in that sort of thing) of what your United Way of Manatee County is hoping to accomplish by offering our profile on The Giving Partner to raise funds for the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in Manatee County during the 2015 Giving Challenge Sept. 1-2.
Strong evidence shows that reading proficiently by the end of third grade is a key predictor of high school graduation and career success. The goal of the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (and that of our communitywide effort working with partners through the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading) is to ensure that all of our children are reading on grade level by the end of third grade — the point at which children move from learning to read to reading to learn.
Our community has come to understand that teaching a child to learn early benefits them, and society, for the rest of their lives. We have engaged in learning, sharing, growth, commitment, and a spirit of openness to collaborating on ways to drive change in Manatee County. In order to do so, we need capital (the human kind) and capital (the financial kind) to keep the momentum.
Join us in being a catalyst on September 1-2 by supporting the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in Manatee County through the 2015 Giving Challenge.
Why?
It’s an incredible opportunity to maximize your impact. Every new online donor who gives $25-$250 will have their donation matched one-to-one by The Patterson Foundation! That means $25 = $50, $100 = $200, $250 = $500, you get the idea! If you know five people who are able to give $250, the Campaign would receive $2,500!
Help us spread the word by:
- Alerting your followers on social media
- Sharing this link with friends and colleagues
- Tweeting this message (or creating one of your own)
It takes all of us, working together, to create lasting change!
To give, please logon to www.givingpartnerchallenge.org on Sept. 1 & 2.
To continue learning, join the movement: www.gradelevelreadingsuncoast.net and follow us on Twitter: @UWManatee #GLReading
