United Way Donates Over 6K Books to Shocker Neighborhood Schools

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United Way Donates Over 6K Books to Shocker Neighborhood Schools

Posted May 20, 2023

United Way of the Plains donated new reading materials to students in grades K-3 at 15 schools in the Shocker neighborhood to combat summer learning loss.

A total of 6,616 books were delivered, with 3,308 children receiving two books and resources for parents to assist students with improving their reading skills. The books were purchased by the United Way from the 2023 Coaching for Literacy fundraising event in partnership with Wichita State University’s (WSU) Men’s Basketball during a game played February 8th to support local childhood literacy efforts.

Volunteers handed out the books on May 9th, 10th, and 11th.According to the organization, more than 53% of Kansas third-grade students were not reading at a proficient level in 2022. To combat this issue, United Way of the Plains, Wichita Public Schools, and Wichita State University have been working to elevate awareness about illiteracy and raise money to buy books for children through the Coaching for Literacy program. Coaching for Literacy is a national initiative that uses the power of sports to raise awareness about the need to improve literacy.The 2023 #Fight4Literacy game hosted by the WSU Men’s Basketball team produced donations from 186 contributors and a matching grant donation from International Paper. The total raised was $28,604 and donors put Wichita State University at the number one spot on the national leaderboard for raising the most money and having the highest number of individual contributors in 2023. WSU fans have kept the team in first or second place the last three years among participating NCAA teams.

Book deliveries were made last week to: