DenimID’s favorite Charity: Room to Read
Superstar advertising firm, Wieden and Kennedy is holding a global online art auction, W+K=MAKE, benefiting DenimID’s favorite non-profit, Room to Read. Stop by the Wieden and Kennedy ultra sleek company headquarters for the opening reception and to view the art work in person this Thursday, May 7th in Portland, Oregon from 6 to 10 PM.
Room to Read: Our Mission
We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.
Room to Read has developed a holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the developing world gain the lifelong gift of education. The approach includes the following programs:
- School Room — We partner with villages to build schools.
- Reading Room — We establish bi-lingual libraries and fill them with donated English books and local language books purchased in-country or self-published, creating a colorful space with posters, games, furniture, and flooring.
- Local Language Publishing — We source new content from local writers and illustrators and publish high-quality local language children’s books to distribute throughout our networks.
- Girls’ Education — We fund long-term girls’ scholarships for young girls who would otherwise not have access to an education.
To increase the likelihood for success and long-term sustainability, Room to Read enlists community involvement and co-investment through our Challenge Grant model. Villages often raise a significant portion of the overall expenditure in the form of dedicated space, labor, materials and/or small amounts of cash. These challenge grants act as catalysts for community building while also maximizing the local participation and expertise brought to our programs.
We hire local staff, who are personally vested in their nation’s educational progress and we empower them to make key programmatic decisions within their country. They are already familiar with the language, conditions, customs and governments and understand the specific needs of the educational system and work to ensure that we craft new solutions to existing problems.
Room to Read: Results to Date
Since our inception in 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 3.1 million children in the developing world by: (1)
- Constructing 765 schools
- Establishing over 7,040 libraries
- Publishing 327 new local language children’s titles representing over 2.8 million books
- Donating over 2.8 million English language children’s books
- Funding 6,817 long-term girls’ scholarships
- Establishing 179 computer and language labs (2)
Weiden and Kennedy is having an online global art auction with proceeds going to DenimID’s favorite non-profit, Room to Read www.roomtoread.com. Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.
Be a part of this incredible movement to change the world through education and work with and meet some great people. There are chapters around the world. Get involved!
DenimID is very involved with the Portland Chapter of Room To Read.
Would love to hear comments, ideas, suggestions, and DenimID’s around the world!
Hello world! Welcome to a new global blog for denim lovers. Share pictures of you and your denim, your town in denim, on your travels, others in denim, and your favorite designers. Also, are you using your denim to help others? Repurposing your denim, denim drives, fundraisers, etc. 