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What is The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation?
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The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization, committed to fighting illiteracy among high-risk youth by "Opening Books to Open Doors." We provide programs that instill fundamental reading skills and life skills. The choice weapons in this fight are books, books and more books. Books empower, inspire and encourage young people to dream and to believe. At the Foundation we encourage young people to read aloud and to use libraries. We provide certified teachers to assess and to instruct using proven methods such as phonics, word recognition, comprehension and other interactive reading material. By using our methods we have shown significant improvement in reading skills among our students. |
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Twan Russell, a professional athlete playing in the NFL, founded the Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, Inc. in 1998. The Foundation was incorporated in 1999.
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Why is The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation's work important?
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40 percent of third graders read below grade level (and levels are even higher in many of our inner cities)
(Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress)
40 million adults in the U.S. read and write at or below the 5th grade level (that is 1 in 4 adults)
(Source: National Center on Adult Literacy)
Illiteracy costs the U.S. $225 billion/year in lost productivity
(Source: Literacy Partners, Inc. (NYC))
People working in correctional systems have long been aware of the relationship between poor literacy skills and crime .... Various Canadian and American sources suggest that between one-quarter and two-thirds of all prisoners are functionally illiterate.
(Source: Ontario Literacy Coalition, Fact Sheet #4)
Although a typical middle class child arrives at school with about 1,000 hours of being read to, his or her low-income neighbor averages just 25 hours.
(Source: Los Angeles Times, 1998)
61 percent of low income families have no books at all in their homes for their children. While low-income children have, on average, roughly four children's books in their homes, a team of researchers recently concluded that nearly two-thirds of the low-income families ....owned no books for their children.
(Source: Reading Literacy in the United States, 1996)
The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student.
(Source: Newman, Stanford, et al. "American's Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy", Fight Crime, Invest in Kids, 2000)
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Ninety-eight percent of our students live in the economically disadvantaged Communities of Broward County, Florida. |
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What programs do we offer? |
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The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation is supported by Twan Russell, a former athlete in the NFL, as well as by gifts, donations and grants from corporations, foundations and individuals. The Foundation actively engages in several fundraising activities throughout the year. |
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You can:
| • Make a donation to fight illiteracy. |
| • Make a credit card donation now |
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If you would like to make a monetary donation to the Foundation by check or money order, please mail it to:
The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, Inc.
1948 Harrison Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
Donations are tax deductible.
(Please do not send cash)
The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation
We acknowledge donations by issuing receipts to donors within two weeks of receipt.
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| • Become a volunteer |
| • Participate in and support the Foundation's fundraising activities |
| • Review your children's homework daily |
| • Read to your children daily |
| · Dress Down Fridays |
| · Penny Drive |
| · Bowling For Books |
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Where is the program located?
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Presently our program meets at:
Osswald Park
2220 NW 21st Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 33311
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park
2400 Charleston Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
Washington Park
5199 Pembroke Road
Hollywood, FL 33021
Beverly Park
6291 Funston Street
Hollywood, FL 33023
Sunkist Grove Park
12500 NW 13th Avenue
North Miami, FL 33167
West Ken Lark Park- New Location!!
1321 NW 33rd Ave.
Lauderhill, FL 33311
Our mailing address is:
The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation, Inc.
1948 Harrison Street
Hollywood, FL 33020
Telephone: 954 921-3748
Fax: 954 920 7238
E-mail: info@russellreadingroom.com
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