People's United Community Foundation Donates $9,500 towards Books for NEA's Read Across America Program

People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, announced today that it has donated $9,500 towards books in recognition of the National Education Association’s Read Across America program, through a partnership with DonorsChoose.org.

Read Across America is a nationwide reading celebration created by the National Education Association (NEA), which focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources. The program is celebrated annually on March 2 in honor of the birthday of children’s author, Dr. Seuss.

In recognition of NEA’s Read Across America initiative, People’s United Community Foundation has donated $9,500 towards books through a partnership with DonorsChoose.org, an online charity dedicated to providing students in public schools with the resources and materials they need to learn. The donation will be allocated to classrooms throughout the communities People’s United Community Foundation serves in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine.

“Reading is one of the most fundamental learning activities for children and is proven to have numerous benefits including improved academic performance among students,” stated Vincent Santilli, Executive Director of People’s United Community Foundation. “Teachers in high-need school districts will greatly benefit from these books as they will help their students read at grade level; we are pleased to be able to provide this important resource for their classrooms in honor of NEA’s Read Across America day.”

“We are so grateful for People’s United Community Foundation’s continued support of classrooms in need,” said DonorsChoose.org spokesman, Dan Blum. “This donation will provide hundreds of students the books they need to learn and thrive.”

DonorsChoose.org

Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post requests, and individuals can give directly to the ones that inspire them. To date, 222,000 public and charter school teachers have used DonorsChoose.org to secure $108 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn.