Urgent Need: Read with Me Volunteers

Read with Me in Urgent Need of Volunteers — A Rewarding Opportunity

Read With Me Volunteer Programs are actively seeking volunteers to inspire and help under-resourced children from low-income communities set an educational path towards a successful future. This has been achieved repeatedly through the nonprofit Read With Me Volunteer Programs since 2004 when Roberta and Clay Klein started the organization realizing a need to assist local children from limited English-speaking environments develop to their fullest potential by learning to read, comprehend and speak English.

Students in grades K-6 read to the volunteer and then the volunteer helps with pronunciation and comprehension by asking questions. Volunteers are asked to commit two to three hours a week. The volunteers are assigned to a specific grade level of their choosing and work under the direction of the teacher with children in small groups or one on one.

“Volunteers are the heart of Read With Me, and we are grateful for all 600+ individuals who dedicate their time and energy to support our cause,” said Read With Me Volunteer Programs Executive Director Sean Webb. “With 22 schools to service, the need for 130 additional volunteers is crucial to continue making a difference in the lives of children through literacy. Join us in spreading the joy of reading and empowering the next generation!”

Read With Me’s mission evolved to help disadvantaged children who live in poverty and come from homes where no English is spoken to learn to read and speak English. All research on the effectiveness of education indicates that if a child is not reading at grade level by third grade, they will drop out of high school and fail to succeed at work, and often get in trouble and wind up in prison. In 2004 only 51% of the students, mainly from the east valley, graduated from high school. Now, 19 years later, 86.1% of the students graduate from high school mostly due to the involvement of Read With Me Volunteer Programs.

All the schools under the jurisdiction of Read With Me Volunteer Programs are currently in dire need of volunteers. It is a rewarding job and one that inspires both the students and the volunteers who tutor them.

Read With Me Volunteer Programs demonstrate stunning proof that caring adults can change the path of a child’s life by helping them learn to read and succeed where English is the dominant language.  Fluency is needed for all learning, including math and science.

“We invite you to share your time, expertise, and talent with us in our most joyful mission,” said Webb. “Helping disadvantaged children become successful, contributing citizens in our local communities is extremely rewarding. We are accepting new and returning volunteers. We ask that you live here in the Coachella Valley, either part-time or full-time, to be a volunteer.”

Presently, Read With Me Volunteer Programs has schools in the following desert cities: Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Mecca, Palm Desert, Salton City, Palm Desert, and Thermal. Volunteers are represented in all these cities in the Coachella Valley.

For more information as how you can volunteer, please call Rachel Ruiz at 760-567-1830 or go to www.readwithmevolunteers.com