HOLLA!’s Community Investment Now Includes The HOLLA! Reading Room For the citizens of the small rural town of Morven, NC – population 515; there is seemingly a new reason to get excited every day. First came the 8400 square foot HOLLA! Resource and Community Development center beholding a regulation-sized tennis court, basketball courts, a media center, dance studio, office spaces, a commercial kitchen and café; along with FAX, Joblink, The Benefit Bank and free public internet access. The center hosts HOLLA!’s United Way Funded Youth Enrichment Program, which offers free year-round tutoring, mentoring, activities and the HOLLA! Youth Enrichment Summer Camp which attracts over 100 participants each summer. The summer camp was featured by UNC-TV on the Black Issues forum segment with Deborah Noel. The HOLLA! Resource and Community Development Center was made possible by grants from The North Carolina Rural Center and The Golden Leaf Foundation to help in the redevelopment of rural communities. Then came The HOLLA! Let’s MOVE Project. The Let’s MOVE Project brought a full-service fitness center offering professional Karate, aerobics and tennis classes at no cost to children aged six to 18. The project also developed a walking trail and donated over $15,000 of playground equipment to the Town of Morven. The HOLLA! Let’s MOVE project is funded by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust to fight obesity among underprivileged children in Anson County. Now Comes The HOLLA! Reading Room! The Reading Room was inspired by visits to tutor local elementary students for End of Grade reading tests. The mission of the HOLLA! Reading Room is to improve reading efficiency among students, fight overall illiteracy and to get the community more excited about reading. It will feature afterschool and weekend activities designed to make reading exciting! To help keep it exciting, HOLLA! has formed a partnership with Author Helen Kimbrough who will be a regular presence at The Reading Room. Kimbrough is a children’s book author of two multicultural children’s books Ocean Waves and Other Tales and Play Dates and Other Tales. These amazing books that enable a child to embrace reading in an interesting way through rhythms, simple expressions, repetition, pictures and childhood associations will be used along with other books by child authors, during her instruction at The Reading Room. In addition, reading plans have been drafted for the following grades: *Kindergarten-2nd Grades *3rd-5th Grades *6th-8th Grades Author Kimbrough’s program will commence on Saturday, November 2 with events every Saturday thereafter from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. A session to inform the public and recruit volunteers is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22 at 6:00 p.m. at The Reading Room located at 239 East Main Street Morven, NC. The meeting will be conducted by Author Helen Kimbrough. Anyone seeking more information or wishing to volunteer toward the efforts of The Reading Room is asked to come to this session. Presently, The Reading Room is being manned by volunteers offering public access between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily and 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturdays. Startup of The HOLLA! Reading Room was made possible by a Care to Share grant from the Pee Dee Electric Corporation. HOLLA! is a United Way organization. “Our projects would have a difficult time surviving without the consistent help of the United Way, our volunteers and the donations of friends, relatives, foundations and corporations. I have truly learned how important it is that we Live United,” said Leon Gatewood, CEO of HOLLA! For more information on The Reading Room or any other HOLLA! projects, call the HOLLA! Center at 704-851-3144.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 01:20:39 +0000
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