People Who Donate

Corporate Donor

Symantec Corporation

"At Symantec we look for nonprofits that are doing great work and meet our philanthropic and corporate goals.  Reading Partners fits," says Adam Rak, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Symantec.  Education is one of Symantec's key areas of philanthropic focus.  Its strategy is to invest in the community today to ensure there's a talented workforce tomorrow.  Literacy is part of that investment and especially promoting literacy at a young age.

 

Reading Partners not only fits these criteria, but it stands out, Rak says, because it offers great volunteer opportunities for Symantec employees.  "Part of our mission is to provide positive opportunities for employee engagement," explains Rak.   "Reading Partners gives our employees a chance to get involved directly with kids and directly with local schools." Ultimately, helping children develop skills they'll use for a lifetime is a win-win both for Symantec and for Reading Partners students.

 

Foundation Donor

Sobrato Family Foundation, Diane Parnes

"Of course, we value that Reading Partners is helping kids with a fundamental skill. But what we really appreciate is their program implementation model. Caring adult volunteer tutors offer critical one-on-one support helping students advance their reading skills as well as boost their esteem. This wonderful model strengthens children on multiple levels."

 

Individual Donors

Marissa Mayer, Google Vice President of Search Products and User Experience

"Reading Partners is a program that I'm proud to support.  It's tremendously innovative in its simplicity.  One-on-one instruction can do so much to help struggling readers overcome their obstacles and can empower them to take off."

Laura Smith, Horace Mann Elementary Tutor & Donor

"This is an organization I feel strongly about supporting.  The ability to read is essential and the sooner children can read the better. The program is well organized and well thought out and run by an outstanding staff that knows what they're doing and doing what they believe in.The kids are an absolute delight. When I walk on to campus, they recognize me and even kids who are not in the program will come up to me and ask if they can get into Reading Partners.  It's amazing!"

Brent Townshend, Father of Reading Partners Tutor, Raphael (Selby Lane)

Brent Townshend is a donor who is not only a long-time supporter of literacy, but whose son is a Reading Partners tutor.  Brent became interested in child literacy through his work with Ordinate, a firm that uses speech recognition technology for language and reading assessment. In seeking more information about other literacy agencies, he came across Reading Partners. Brent likes Reading Partners' model of pairing tutors and kids. He suggested it to his son, who was looking for a way to get involved as a community volunteer. Now both father and son are supporters of the program. "It's a model that works well," Brent says.  "It builds a relationship with the child almost like a Big Brother."

 

Gift-In-Kind Donors

Laine Miller, 8 years old, Book Drive

Laine Miller is one of Reading Partners' youngest philanthropists.  Using her eighth birthday party as a vehicle for organizing a book drive, Laine received and donated 59 books to the Reading Partners Reading Center at Belle Haven Elementary School in Menlo Park.   Laine insists that she didn't miss getting birthday presents for herself.  Instead she says, "It made me feel really happy about helping other people."

Kelly Morris, Video Services

Kelly Morris loved her experience as a tutor and was taken by the power and uniqueness of the program.  But as a freelance television reporter and producer, she knew that having a Reading Partners video would be an invaluable way to give prospective volunteers and donors an immediate sense of how the program works.  Drawing on her insider's knowledge of the program and working in conjunction with Reading Partners staff, she assembled a team to produce the Reading Partners video.  Kelly says, "Producing the video was a way I could keep giving back to a program I believe in."