SAG Foundation Receives $100,000 Donation From Rise Up Foundation

January 15, 2015

The Hollywood Reporter.com | by Meena Jang

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation received a $100,000 donation from the Rise Up Foundation in support of its children’s literacy program, the guild announced on Jan. 14.

The BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) program, a literacy program in Title I public schools that collaborates with local performers who extend their gifts of storytelling to children, partnered with SAG for a year-long, nationwide campaign.

“We are so grateful to the Rise Up Foundation for their incredibly generous gift to our BookPALS program and their equally strong commitment to children’s literacy. This partnership is a natural fit for our two foundations,” SAG Foundation president JoBeth Williams shared in a statement. “This is going to be an awesome opportunity for tens of thousands of children nationwide to interact with professional storytellers and connect with books, reading and the written word in an exciting, new way.”

BookPALS is a program launched by the SAG Foundation to promote children’s literacy through storytelling and book readings in public schools nationwide.

With the help of Rise Up Foundation, an impressive roster of actors and local broadcasters will be on board this year to hold book readings for kindergarten to third grade students. In addition, national literary month in September will introduce a new “Challenge Event” for children in participating BookPALS schools.

Amongst a list of over 2,200 BookPALS volunteers, Octavia Spencer, Jenna Elfman and Elijah Wood are a few performers who joined the SAG Foundation’s literary initiative and hosted a reading session in the past.