This blog was prepared by United Way Worldwide for its member organizations

In the budget that has been approved by Congress, and is expected to be signed by President Obama, we are pleased to share that the majority of programs that United Way has prioritized have stayed intact or even increased in funding. Given the conomic and political landscape, this is good news. Please see below for highlights of FY2012 program funding in our building block areas. Note: There is an additional 0.189 percent across…

On December 16th, it was announced that Washington State was one of nine states to win a collective $500 million from the federal government, part of an education initiative – the “Race to the Top” grant competition! The goal of the competition and the funds are specifically for states to invest in more children from birth to five years old so that they are ready for kindergarten. Washington State placed third among the 37 applications and will receive a four-year grant totally $60 million dollars…

“What are we reading today?” Bonnie Rosalind asks the small pupils at Grace Children’s Center. Her favorite response is for a child to select a book that Bonnie herself loved to read while growing up; she believes that is “a true testament to the timelessness of books.”

Bonnie signed up for the Volunteer Reader Program on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2009. President Obama had declared that date a National Day of Service, and Bonnie took it as a call to action. Since then,…

The children at Little Eagles Child Development Center are delighted when Miss Kitty, a well-loved puppet cat, comes to visit. Accompanying this now-famous puppet is another popular visitor, Volunteer Reader Joan Davis. Although Miss Kitty occasionally finds the kids’ exuberance a bit trying, Joan’s reason for volunteering is clear: “I am not their regular teacher, I am not their mom or dad or grandma or grandpa- I am a friend whose only mission is to show them great books, to read to…

Agreement on increasing the federal debt ceiling was reached on August 2, the final day (identified by Treasury Secretary Geithner) before the federal government would default on its financial obligations because it had run out of money and could no longer borrow to pay bills.  A bipartisan compromise was reached by the House and Senate but neither body, the President, the Pentagon, or interest and advocacy groups was particularly happy with the outcome.   The National Senior Corps Association has done an excellent summary…

This was written by guest blogger, Volunteer Reader Program Intern, Andrea Alvarez. 

We recently had the pleasure of attending a site appreciation at Petite Daycare & Preschool for outstanding Volunteer Reader Karla Thomas.  She has been a marvelous and committed volunteer for the past 4 years!

The staff and children were excited…

This was written by guest blogger, Volunteer Reader Program Intern, Andrea Alvarez. 

For the past two years, Volunteer Reader Khushbu Vyas has been commuting from Ballard every Monday and reading to the children at Little Eagles Child Development Center in downtown Seattle.

Today, we had the opportunity to meet and catch up with Khusbu. Her warm personality made our visit extra-special, and her face lit up as she sang the praises of the Little Eagles Center staff and its children. For her, volunteering has been…

Earlier this week, our Public Policy department decided to reach out to community members involved in our Volunteer Reader Program. Via e-mail, we asked volunteers to do more to help support early learning in our state.

 Volunteers were asked to sign on to a letter thanking our King County Legislature for its outstanding bipartisan effort to support early learning in Washington. We were very excited when enthusiastic and highly positive responses came flying in. In all, a total of 35 Volunteer…

In a recent research study performed by Developmental Studies staff at Purdue University, it was found that there is a link between a child’s interest in literacy and their behavior.  The study focused on low-income preschoolers ages 3-5.  One specific finding of the study noted that book choices available to children are important and that parents and teachers need to ensure that there are a variety of books available that both girls and boys would be interested in.  United Way of King County’s Volunteer Reader…

Thanks to the combined advocacy of our United Way constituents nd partner organizations, United Way of King County was able to achieve many of its legislative asks even in one of the most challenging economic years on record.  Below is a summary of the outcomes of our main advocacy efforts for FY 2011-2013.

 2011-2013 Budget Outcomes

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