Atlanta, GA – September 25, 2013 — East Lake Foundation recently received a $2,500 Youth Literacy grant from the Dollar General Literacy Organization to support the Literacy Center at Charles R. Drew Charter School.
“We are delighted to have this new partnership with the Dollar General organization,” said Cynthia Kuhlman, Ph.D., Chair of the Drew Charter School Board of Directors. “This grant will help support the ongoing work being done at the Drew Literacy Center, serving children in Pre-K through fifth grade.” Drew Charter School’s Literacy Center is also central in assists students who struggle in literacy and reading comprehension by providing targeted and individualized attention to these students.
At Drew, words matter! Whether at lunch, working in small groups or on the playground, teachers spend much of each day engaging students in conversation, helping them verbalize and build vocabulary. Children are encouraged to use words and understand what the words mean. This instructional approach was developed in collaboration with the Rollins Center for Language & Learning at the Atlanta Speech School. This partnership has resulted in impressive academic gains for Drew’s youngest students, who enter kindergarten ready to learn and are on a path to read-to-learn by third grade.
“Youth literacy grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation are awarded at the beginning of the academic year to help make a distinct impact on the communities we serve by supporting programs that improve education and enhance literacy,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “At Dollar General, we are passionate about our mission of Serving Others and it’s exciting to see the real difference literacy and learning makes in people’s lives.”
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $84.9 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 4.8 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.
For more information on the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and a complete list of grant recipients, please visit www.dgliteracy.org.
About the East Lake Foundation:
Founded in 1995 on the belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, the East Lake Foundation (www.eastlakefoundation.org) collaborates with public and private organizations to provide tools that enable Atlanta’s East Lake residents to build a better future through its model for community revitalization. The East Lake model includes cradle-to-college education at Charles R. Drew Charter School and its early learning partners, mixed-income housing at The Villages of East Lake and community wellness through programs including The First Tee® of East Lake, the East Lake Community Learning Garden and Urban Farm and our partnership with the East Lake YMCA. This approach to building a strong community not only helps break the cycle of poverty, but creates a place where people of all ages and incomes choose to live. East Lake has become a model for integrated community revitalization programs across the country.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation has been delivering value to shoppers for nearly 75 years. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day!® by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, house wares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. With more than 10,600 stores in 40 states, Dollar General has more retail locations than any retailer in America. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America’s most-trusted manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Nabisco, Hanes, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. Learn more about Dollar General at www.dollargeneral.com. For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and its grant programs, visit www.dgliteracy.com.
