The Sallie Mae Fund Honored as 'Donor of the Month' by Reading Is Fundamental
June 14 2007 - 12:32PM
PR Newswire (US)
National Children's Literacy Organization Lauds TSMF for Its
Continued Generosity RESTON, Va., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Sallie Mae Fund is pleased to announce that it has been selected as
the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) "Donor of the Month" for June
2007. The Sallie Mae Fund recently renewed its support of the
national children's literacy organization with a donation of more
than $42,000, which will provide funding for RIF programs at 16
schools in six states. For nearly 20 years, The Sallie Mae Fund and
Sallie Mae have supported RIF programs with grants and volunteers
in the communities where employees live and work. Since 2001, The
Sallie Mae Fund has provided more than 100,000 books and thousands
of volunteer hours through RIF's National Book Program. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030617/SLMLOGO-a) "Through
the generosity of The Sallie Mae Fund, thousands of RIF kids have
received books and literacy resources," said Carol Rasco, president
and chief executive officer, Reading Is Fundamental. "In addition
to The Fund's substantial financial support, the employees of
Sallie Mae have enriched these children's lives through their
extensive volunteer efforts. We are proud to work in concert with
The Sallie Mae Fund to foster a love of reading in children across
the nation." Founded in 1966, Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. is the
nation's oldest and largest children's literacy organization. It
develops and delivers children's and family literacy programs that
help prepare young children for reading and motivate school-age
children to read regularly. RIF's National Book Program, now known
as Books for Ownership, motivates children, families and community
members to read together. Students have the opportunity to choose
and take home a book at no cost to their families and interact with
volunteers, who read stories to the children at the event. This
year, The Sallie Mae Fund and teams of Sallie Mae volunteers will
support RIF programs in communities where Sallie Mae employees live
and work, including: Mesa, Ariz.; Rockland and West Roxbury, Mass.;
Batavia, Delevan, Horseheads, Painted Post and Perry, N.Y.; Hanover
Twp. and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and Copperas Cove and Killeen, Texas.
"The Sallie Mae Fund is committed to supporting programs that
foster academic achievement and help ensure that students are
prepared to pursue a higher education," said Kathleen deLaski,
president of The Sallie Mae Fund. "Literacy, and more importantly a
love of reading, are key to a successful academic career. We are
proud to support Reading Is Fundamental, which is doing so much to
improve literacy nationwide." The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable
organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission-to
increase access to a postsecondary education for America's
students-by supporting programs and initiatives that help open
doors to higher education, preparing families for their investment,
and bridging the gap when no one else can. For more information,
visit http://www.salliemaefund.org/. Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
(RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with
them, their parents and community members to make reading a fun and
beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is
reaching underserved children from birth to age eight. Through
community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF
provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and
literacy resources each year. For more information and to access
reading resources, visit RIF's Web site at http://www.rif.org/.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030617/SLMLOGO-a
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: The Sallie Mae Fund
CONTACT: Beth Guerard of Sallie Mae, +1-703-984-5621, Web site:
http://www.salliemae.com/ http://www.salliemaefund.org/
http://www.rif.org/ Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/827187.html
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