Girl's Life Magazine Joins National Literacy Program - MagazineLiteracy.org Extends Magazine's Reach to Needy Kids in Homeless Shelters and Schools.

MagazineLiteracy.org has expanded its portfolio of children's magazines to include Girl's Life, now available free to needy children in schools, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and other community literacy programs. Each award-winning issue of Girl's Life is seen by over 3 million girls aged 10 - 15.

Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) January 10, 2005 -- The Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project today announced that Girl's Life magazine is now available free to needy children via their MagazineLiteracy.org web site. "Girl's Life is an invaluable, award-winning addition to our portfolio of magazines, enabling us to reach a whole new population of children. We aspire to reach out to a broad base of needy children in schools, in homeless and domestic abuse shelters, in foster care and group homes, or who are otherwise dislocated or at risk. Our program relies on teachers, shelter staff, and other community-based literacy agents to define their own reading program needs and magazine preferences. Offering Girl's Life helps us serve new possibilities, while spreading the joy of reading this wonderful magazine to girls aged 10 - 15," said John Mennell, founder of MagazineLiteracy.org.

"Girls' Life is intended to be an intelligent, non-condescending and easy-to-read magazine," explained Karen Bokram, Publisher and Founding Editor. "The philosophy behind the graphic presentation and every article presented is that girls are important, independent, and intelligent people with opinions of their own. Each article seeks to reinforce that message and inspire confidence in a girl's thoughts, opinions, and feelings," she added.

Mennell conceived this one-of-a-kind magazine-based literacy program while organizing food drives for needy families. "It occurred to me that families unable to afford food certainly could not provide children's magazines to their kids. 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, shelter or other literacy program. A sponsor may be an individual or a group, such as a business, community service organization, or a student group. A literacy agent seeking magazines completes an application, which provides contact and program information, as well as magazine preferences and reading goals, " he explained.

MagazineLiteracy.org is a program of the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project, Incorporated, based in Princeton, New Jersey. 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 obtain 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.

Girls' Life Magazine first hit newsstands in September 1994. Since then, Girls' Life has continued to grow and sustain its place as the #1 magazine for 10 to 15-year-old girls. Currently, over 3 million girls see each issue of Girls Life.

For more information about Girl's Life, visit:
http://www.girlslife.com/

For more information about MagazineLiteracy.org, visit: http://magazineliteracy.org/

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