Holiday Grocery Cards for Family Literacy Program

I am the Program Coordinator for the Even Start Family Literacy program in Arlington, VA. We welcome immigrant families from all over our community and offer a curriculum that empowers parents to become more effective partners in their children's education. The hardworking parents attend classes to improve their English and literacy skills and learn about community resources and strategies to improve their children's school readiness and academic progress.

The enrolled parents come from almost a dozen countries, and most had little opportunity to attend school as children. Many of them also work, and they all live in households with adults working multiple jobs. The current economic climate is impacting them significantly.

In the past, Even Start created wish lists of games and toys and collected grocery cards for the holiday season. This year we have a funding source that will allow us to provide everyone with books and new learning materials for home. Given the critical needs many of them are facing, we have decided to focus our community outreach on grocery gift cards. We want the families to be able to spend the money raised on what their family needs most.

Thank you for reading. We greatly appreciate any donation you are able to make to help these awesome families have a more joyous holiday season.