TROY — On Feb. 13, Give Where You Live (GWYL) members heard three presentations from Reading for Change, Connections, and We Love Birthday Parties. Reading for Change was the selected charity. On March 5, members of the Give Where You Live Steering Committee presented the checks to Carianne Gaines, the director of Reading for Change.
Reading for Change (RFC) is a reading system tailored to elementary students Grades kindergarten through fourth grade at every reading level. It was developed by creator Ali Martin, an elementary teacher and a Troy native. It is a curriculum that allows students to take charge of their own learning by making reading fun. Students find joy in reading through numerous approaches and stations. Strategies incorporating movement, song, and dance allow students to use their natural energy to fuel their learning. Students are held to high academic and personal standards, making RFC a scholastic program while simultaneously reinforcing beneficial life skills. In addition, RFC provides one-on-one education as well as small group instruction, by educated professionals in this field. The program is funded by private donors and government grants.
To learn more about Reading for Change, visit readingforchange.com.
If you are a charitable organization with a footprint in Miami County, join members at Give Where You Live and help spread the news of your organization. GWYL IS a group of women and men who have the desire to support charitable organizations impacting Miami County. The organization started in 2015 and is growing with 117 current members. GWYL is a Giving Circle patterned after the operation of 100+ Women. Members meet four times a year, and each member brings a blank check for $100 to the meeting. Every member can nominate a Miami County charity. Members who come to the meeting can put the name of the charity they want to speak about into the hat. Three names are drawn at random at each meeting. Selected members make a 5-minute presentation about each cause. Then there is a 5-minute Q&A about the presentations. Members then vote on which cause to support and the top vote-getting charity then receives all the checks, made out to them on the spot. This all takes place in about 20 minutes. As of November 2019, Give Where You Live has given more than $180,000 to Miami County charities.
Membership to Give Where You Live of Miami County is open throughout the year. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 14 at the Zion Lutheran Church, 14 W. Walnut St., Tipp City.
For more information, or to sign up as a member, visit givewhereyoulive.wixsite.com/miamicounty. You may also email questions to [email protected].
