Read-a-thon for Literacy

Participants in the Read-a-thon for Literacy read to give others the chance to learn to read and experience the liberating power of literacy.

Being able to read and write are not skills we learn on our own. They are taught to us by others who have learned from others before them. Literacy is a gift one generation passes along to the next. 

Literacy has become so essential, though, that it is no longer just a privilege. It is a basic right. Without literacy individuals cannot navigate today's world and people cannot build or maintain democratic societies.

Over a billion people in our world are denied the opportunity and right of literacy, though. Most of these people live in countries too poor to provide education to all their citizens.

This is the case in Haiti where there are so few public schools that only about half of school-aged children attend school, and most who do must attend private schools where their parents often struggle to pay tuition. The majority of students must drop out before completing elementary school. The result is that fewer than half of Haiti's adults are functionally literate.

Through the Read-a-thon for Literacy, new readers and their sponsors can work together to share the power of literacy with both children and their parents in Haiti.

Students in elementary schools, youth groups, or Sunday school classes can join together to raise both money and greater awareness to share the gift of literacy. Participants raise support for literacy training and basic education in Haiti by collecting sponsors who pledge support for each hour, page, or book the student reads. Both readers and sponsors learn about Haiti and the importance of education. In some cases participating classes can be matched with school children in Haiti for correspondence.

Instructions and forms for organizing your own Read-a-thon for Literacy are available here online or may be requested directly from Beyond Borders. Instructions for downloading the Read-a-thon Reader's Log and Sponsor Forms are provided below.

If you plan to organize a Read-a-thon for Literacy in your community, please contact Cindy Koser or David Diggs by e-mail or by phone at (202) 686-2088. There are additional educational materials and instructions we can provide that are not available here on our site.

Gifts from sponsors are tax-deductible in the United States if checks are written to Beyond Borders. Ideally these checks will have read-a-thon written in the memo line and will be collected and sent in a single envelope at the completion of the read-a-thon. Send checks to:

Beyond Borders
PO Box 2132
Norristown, PA 19404

We will send sponsors a receipt and thank you note directly to the address listed on their checks shortly after we recieve them. We will offer sponsors the opportunity to be added to our mailing list, but we will not automatically add them to our list. Addresses and personal information from sponsors will never be shared or sold by Beyond Borders.

Finally, we are grateful for any personal stories or digital photos you are willing to share of students participating in the Read-a-thon. You should seek consent from parents before taking or sharing photos. With their consent, we may place photos on our Web site or in our newsletter to publicize the work your students have done.