Thanksgiving Challenge Helps Feed Kids Hungry to Learn - National Magazine Literacy Project Seeks to Fatten Ranks of Business and Community Sponsors

As families begin their Thanksgiving preparations, MagazineLiteracy.org has launched its national challenge to help feed kids hungry to learn. MagazineLiteracy.org helps business and community sponsors adopt teachers and other literacy agents to bring wonderful magazines free to children and families who would otherwise not be able to afford them.

Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) November 8, 2004 -- While families begin their Thanksgiving preparations, MagazineLiteracy.org today launched its national challenge to help feed kids hungry to learn. MagazineLiteracy.org is asking business and community sponsors to adopt teachers and other literacy agents to bring wonderful magazines free to children who would otherwise not be able to afford them. "Our aim is to provide children with a cornucopia of reading materials every month for a full year," said John Mennell, founder of MagazineLiteracy.org. "It is so important for children to have reading materials that they can call their own and for parents to read with their children each day. This special Thanksgiving celebration will provide children with magazines that can be brought home so families can read together," he added.

Mennell conceived his magazine-based literacy program while organizing food drives during the Thanksgiving holiday season. "It occurred to me that families unable to afford food certainly could not afford children's magazines. We love our magazines and have powerful memories of the magazines that meant so much to us as children. Few treasures brighten a child's eyes, smile and intellect like a colorful new magazine. By arranging for monthly copies with a child's name printed on a label, MagazineLiteracy.org builds self-esteem while bringing the simple joy of reading to children and families," said Mennell.

"Setting up a program is simple," said Mennell. At the MagazineLiteracy.org web site, sponsors adopt a school or other literacy agent program. A sponsor may be an individual or a group, such as a community service organization, a student group, or a business. A literacy agent seeking magazines completes an application, which provides contact and program information, as well as magazine preferences. Twice a year, the literacy agent submits an evaluation of their program against previously defined goals. Once requests for magazines and pledges of financial support are submitted, MagazineLiteracy.org staff complete the matching process and logistical follow-up. The publisher mails the magazines directly to the literacy agent, which are in turn distributed to children and families. "By serving as a liaison in matching role, MagazineLiteracy.org simplifies the web of relationships and communications necessary for finding local literacy program sponsors, and selecting, ordering, and delivering magazines to children," he explained.

MagazineLiteracy.org is a program of the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project, Incorporated. The program was devised to help kids learn to read and build their self-esteem by providing wonderful children's magazines free to schools, and other reading programs that would otherwise not be able to afford them. MagazineLiteracy.org was launched on International Literacy Day, September 8, 2004, and leverages the combined power of the Internet and children's magazines to support teachers and other literacy agents dedicated to helping children learn to read. The unique project is national in scope, but is made possible by local community partnerships between business and other sponsors and teachers in schools and other literacy agents. 100% of the support contributed by local sponsors provides magazines for children in community reading programs.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

John Mennell

609-651-4340

http://magazineliteracy.org/

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