Women United: Empowering Young Readers Through Read Across America

A Love for Reading Builds Strong Foundations, Creates Better Futures

At United Way of Broward County, one of our pillars is to fight for the Education of every person living in our community, and we recognize reading to children is a powerful cornerstone for their development.

The benefits of reading to support a child’s well-being are innumerable, and some include:

cognitive development —enhancing his or her comprehension, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills
language skills — expanding vocabulary, improving grammar, and developing social skills
knowledge expansion — broadening his or her understanding of the world around them, instilling empathy, and encouraging creativity
concentration — developing longer attention spans and self-discipline
academic success —reinforcing learning in all subjects through regular reading habits
improved memory — enhancing retention by remembering characters, plots, and details from stories
better mental health — reducing stress, improving sleep, and contributing to overall well-being

Introducing children to the joy of reading at an early age fosters a lifelong love of literature. Having a passion for reading encourages continuous learning, personal growth, and long-term success throughout a child’s entire life. However, too often, children from lower-income homes have limited access to books, resulting in fewer language and literacy opportunities than children who have economically advantaged backgrounds.

Some sobering facts related to literacy among children in the U.S. include:

65% of fourth graders are not reading at grade level.
Reading for fun among children is at its lowest level since the mid-1980s — only 53% of children at age 9 reported reading for fun.
Children who struggle with reading are at a higher risk of dropping out of school.
In Florida, 38% of children live in households with a high housing cost burden.
Florida’s educational system has faced budget constraints and funding challenges for years — limiting resources available for literacy programs, teacher training, and classroom materials.

Every year at the beginning of March (which coincides with the birthday of Dr. Seuss), National Read Across America Day is a unique, powerful way to overcome these hardships. Designed to create awareness and spur motivation, Read Across America is an annual reading program launched by the National Education Association in 1998. It’s the largest celebration of reading in the U.S., encouraging people of all ages— teachers, parents, community leaders, volunteers, and more — to make reading enjoyable and accessible for ALL children.

One outstanding way we show our support is through the efforts of Women United, an affinity group of our United Way, whose members organize and support a range of reading events and activities.

Women United’s members participate in:

reading celebrations in schools and community centers
book donations to help children build at-home libraries
volunteer participation in classroom activities
community engagement to promote the importance of early literacy

On March 4 this year, Women United is having one of its annual reading celebrations to honor Read Across America Day. 50 volunteers from Women United will read Dr. Seuss’ If I Ran the Circus to dozens of classrooms at Sunland Park Elementary in Fort Lauderdale.

On this special day, each of Sunland Park Elementary’s 500 students will be given a personal copy of Dr. Suess’ book to build his or her at-home library. Our goal is to bring the joy of Dr. Seuss’ whimsical world to life, help inspire hundreds of young readers, and promote the life-changing advantages of early literacy.

“Every year, Read Across America is such an important event for our school. United Way’s wonderful team of volunteers bring reading to life, and their care and passion is immeasurable. Many of our children don’t have someone who can read to them, and because of Women United and Read Across America, the children are so excited. On this day, United Way brings happiness to our children,” says Helen Kassim, assistant principal at Sunland Park Academy.

You too can give essential support to Read Across America on March 2. If you’re looking for ways to help Women United and its corps of volunteers turn the tide for early literacy in Broward, you can:

On Read Across America Day, the power of Women United is helping addresses the many needs of young learners — providing a unique, personalized, and fun literacy experience for elementary-school students. Together, we can create something great in our community by uplifting children in need.