IT’S RELEVANT: STAMFORD – ‘Business to Books’ Read-a-thon Returns to Local Schools

Initiative connects 15 local businesses to classrooms

By Priscilla Lombadi

April 22, 2015

“This is our sixth year and we’ve come back every year to Toquam,” said Vinnie Fusco, general manager and production executive at NBC Universal Stamford media center. “They’re a big part of our family.”

As part of The Volunteer Center of United Way of Western Connecticut’s Annual “Business to Books” Read-a-thon, seven employees from NBC Universal’s Stamford Media Center went from classroom to classroom reading books to kindergarten and first grade students. Vinnie Fusco, general manager and production executive at NBC Universal Stamford media center says there’s never a shortage of readers.

“This is a marquee annual event for us,” said Fusco. “All of our employees love participating in the Read-a-Thon and it gives us an opportunity to give back to these wonderful students.”

“The United Way has been running the “Business to Books” Read-a-thon since 2002,” said Karen Brennan, director of the Stamford Early Childhood Collaborative at the United Way. “It’s a volunteer effort that brings businesses into the classroom as a way to give back and to promote literacy. We have been partnering with NBC for 6 years and here at Toquam Elementary Magnet school for six years.”

The initiative, launched in 2002 by the Workplace Volunteer Council (WVC) and a coalition of businesses within The Volunteer Center, was designed to enhance public education through local businesses’ volunteer efforts. This spring, the Stamford Early Childhood Collaborative at the United Way will bring 110 volunteers from 15 different businesses like GE, Pitney Bows and Kelley Drye & Warren to read to 3,000 children in 12 public elementary schools.

“I think to connect businesses to the classrooms so that they can see what’s going on every day in the classroom, these little minds that are learning,” said Brennan. “To promote volunteerism, to give back and again to promote literacy.”

http://stamford.itsrelevant.com/content/22975/Business-to-Books-Read-a-thon-Returns-to-Local-Schools