Services to Youth


Challenge Accepted! The Reston (VA) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated donated more than 200 books to Dogwood Elementary in Reston, VA for the 43rd National Assembly Community Service Project 7,500 Book Challenge. 


We answered National President Kimberly Leonard’s call to action with a mighty shout! We purchased and donated more than 200 brand new books to the three Head Start Pre-Kindergarten classes at Dogwood Elementary School, in Reston, VA.  The Services to Youth Committee established an Amazon "wish list" to facilitate selection and delivery of the approriate reading material.   Members of the chapter chose from the suggested titles (plus others) of age-appropriate, diverse story books.

Dogwood Elementary School is a Title 1 campus. Schools with the Title 1 designation are defined with the neediest schools and students.  One measurement is the percentage of low-income stuents. We encourage you to visit their website to learn how the Dogwood Elementary community is working to wrap these students with the resources and staff to give them the means to stay on target with their peers.

After the books were sorted and labeled, a delegation of our chapter members met at Dogwood Elemenary School on June 1, 2022 to present the donation to the principal, Kate Beckner, the lead pre-kindergarten teacher, Laura Bell, other Dogwood educators, and the students.  It was wonderful to see the glow in the eyes of the children, as they each selected a book to take home. The remainder of the books delivered that day will grace the shelves of the three classroom libraries serving these students. A few of our sisters had the opportunity to read a story to the eager and attentive students. We felt an immediate warm welcome from everyone we met at Dogwood.

Closing the literacy gap at an early age means our youth can achieve greater educational outcomes in the future.  We’re proud to be their #LinkstoSuccess. 

 

 
   


#RestonLinks #RestonLinksSTY #LinksInc #Links43NA #7500BookChallenge #LinksReadToSucceed