Read. Talk. Play. Every Day!
That's the message over one hundred volunteers shared with Champaign and Urbana families on Tuesday, September 13. United Way, with CU Cradle 2 Career and the Champaign Community Coalition, hosted a Walk As One event focused on increasing kindergarten readiness. United Way estimates that 30% of kids are not fully prepared on the first day of Kindergarten.
Over 400 Getting Ready for Kindergarten kits were handed out as part of the Walk as One efforts. The kits were filled with great tools to help parents and children read, talk and play together - including not one, but TWO books, and United Way's Getting Ready for Kindergarten Calendar! The items were donated by local businesses as part of United Way's Day of Action event this past June.
Volunteers came from all over the community. We were pleased to have several elected officials, School Board members, and teachers among our volunteers. The Superintendents of Urbana Unit 116 and Champaign Unit 4 Schools joined in!
We were grateful for the support of three local Police departments: Champaign, Urbana and the Champaign County Sheriff. The officers each supervised a group of volunteers and helped us divide the neighborhood into sections so we did not miss anyone!
The volunteers went door-to-door to deliver the kits. They reported having tons of fun, and that families were very grateful to recieve kits.
We would like to thank everyone who made this event possible. Together we impatcted the lives of 400 families in just one hour!
For more pictures from the event, please visit us on Facebook.
