Pi Beta Phi cares about literacy in the Ames community.

The Pi Beta Phi Foundation awarded Raising Readers of Story County with the Special Impact Grant on Feb. 2 in the amount of $10,000.

Raising Readers is an organization dedicated to early literacy, communication and learning, with an emphasis on low-income families in Ames.

For more than a decade, the organization has devoted time to providing families with reliable information and support when concerning effective literacy from birth to age eight. Raising Readers and Pi Beta Phi have been in association for several years with book donations, book distributions and now, the Special Impact Grant.

Mary Harken, executive director of Raising Readers, said the $10,000 will go toward Raising Readers’ Thrive to Five program, which focuses on the importance of reading and school readiness for children ranging from infants to age five.

“The grant would advance the Thrive to Five program with the hope of reaching even more families in poverty and bringing forth more tools to advance parent or caregiver and child-learning processes,” Harkin said. “For example, more take-home teaching exercises and even text message reminders to assist parents in keeping track of their children’s literacy growth.” 

Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women is known for its commitment to promoting literacy nationally and locally. The women have donated more than two million books through their partnership with First Book.

The Iowa Gamma chapter of Iowa State collects children’s books annually during each summer, donating what they have gathered to First Book, then First Book distributes the books to organizations that promote child literacy.

The Local Literacy Initiative that was launched in 2010 gives Pi Beta Phi the opportunity to see the fruits of its labor by distributing the book donations to organizations within the Ames community. This year, Pi Phi recovered 500 books, which were delivered to Raising Readers.

Allison Pitz, vice president of communication of Pi Beta Phi, said she believes enthusiasm for reading must be sparked during the younger years.

“By empowering reading at an early age and getting children excited to read, we hope to impact their futures for the better,” Pitz said.

The women of Pi Beta Phi conducted an elementary partnership program, coined Champions are Readers, which enables the members to read alongside students throughout the week. A total of 158 women schedule one-on-one readings with the students for an hour to three hours  each week during the course of six weeks at multiple Ames elementary schools.

Chapter President Shelby Ullrich suggested the reason her chapter focuses so heavily on getting kids passionate about reading is that literacy is fundamental for life and the foundation of learning.

“We really value education,” Ullrich said. “Literacy is the building block for lives. It allows you to learn about yourself, one another, and other cultures. Overall, literacy is an important part of personal and intellectual growth.”