Children’s Friend receives $5,000 Grant to Host a
Family Reading Celebration for Local Community

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Reading is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s largest children’s literacy organization, has selected Children’s Friend to receive a $5,000 special literacy grant to host a Family Reading Celebration event for local families. The Family Reading Celebration initiative is designed to empower families and communities to help children discover the joy of reading.

“We are honored to receive this Family Reading Celebration grant to better serve the families in our community,” said David Caprio, President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Friend.  “This funding will help us support families and enhance the efforts of our early childhood development work.”

“RIF has worked with corporate sponsors for years to host Family Reading Celebrations around the country with great success,” said Carol H. Rasco, President and CEO of RIF.  “With this pilot program, we’re applying the lessons we’ve learned to provide needed resources to build engaged families of readers.”

Through a multi-year partnership with Macy’s, RIF is distributing $87,500 in grant funds to 28 programs during the first phase of the new Family Reading Celebration. 

A non-profit organization founded in 1834, Children's Friend is Rhode Island's oldest child welfare organization and a leading provider of child welfare, family support, mental health, and youth development services. Children's Friend served more than 26,000 of Rhode Island's most vulnerable children and their families in 2009. The agency's programs range from Adoption, Foster Care, Birth Parent Counseling, Child Care, and Adoption Support and Preservation to Dads Making A Difference, Early Head Start, Head Start, Early Intervention, Family Counseling and Project Connect. For more information, please contact Julie Casimiro, Administrator, Advancement, at jcasimiro@cfsri.org or at 401.276.4359.