Los Banos, CA – 7/25/2022 – The Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Learn to Read a $2,500 grant to support summer literacy. This local grant is part of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s recent award of $10.5 million donation to support summer, family, and adult literacy programs, representing the organization’s largest one-day grant donation in its 29-year history.

“Students are taught a strategy in reading and comprehension, plus the reading coaches are there to check on each student’s progress and provide encouragement,” said Vivian Mendoza, Co-founder of Learn to Read. “Students are excited and motivated when they manage their own learning progress and have a chance to show off their newly acquired reading skills.” Jim Connor, Executive Director, added “Results exceeded expectations due to a combination of the efficacy of the curriculum, the quality of the reading coaches, and the engagement level among the students.

About the Summer Reading Program: 

The summer reading program engaged 100 students at Grasslands Elementary School in reading classes conducted as part of a 3½ weeks program conducted Monday through Friday, including a reading coach to work with each individual student.

The reading curriculum combines self-paced recorded reading lessons with live coaching sessions for individual lesson plans and student self-pacing. Students who completed this program are prepared to start the new school year with a foundation in reading and comprehension. For more information, see https://LearnToReadOnline.org

“For nearly 30 years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has been proud to invest in literacy and education programs in our hometown communities,” said Denine Torr, Executive Director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “The recent and significant shifts in the educational landscape have made the Foundation’s mission more critically important. As we work to create access to high-quality instruction for all individuals, we share our gratitude for the educators who are working to uplift and empower others. We hope these funds will have a meaningful impact on students and teachers across the country and look forward to seeing the positive impact they have on learners.”

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation supports organizations that increase access to educational programming, stimulate and enable innovation in the delivery of educational instruction and inspire a love of reading. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center to support adult, family, summer, and youth literacy programs. The Foundation also offers a student referral program for individuals interested in learning how to read, speak English, or prepare for the high school equivalency exam. Referrals to a local organization that provides free literacy services are available online here or through referral cards found in the Learn to Read brochures that are available at the cash register of every Dollar General store.

About Learn to Read

The Learn to Read program provides an evidence-based reading curriculum specific for teaching explicit reading skills to elementary school students. The program, aligned with the Science of Reading principles, features recorded reading lessons that build a foundation in reading skills and comprehension.  A key aspect is a reading coach, who develops a tutor-type relationship with the student.

About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $216 million in grants, helping more than 15.4 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. Cal Turner, Jr. founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to honor his grandfather and Dollar General’s co-founder, J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate having dropped out of school in the third grade to support his family. The Foundation aims to provide support to schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations that seek to improve adult, summer, youth and family literacy initiatives. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, visit www.dgliteracy.org