RICHMOND, Va. -- For almost a year now, once a week Landon Woody and her dog Ollie have joined the students at Ginter Park Elementary for an hour of fun. The hour of fun isn't spent outside at recess but instead inside reading.
"It's great to have the same kids the whole year because I can watch them go from tentative reading to terrific little readers by the end of the school year," Woody said.
Woody and Ollie volunteer their time helping students find reading more enjoyable.
"I love reading and I love children and I love dogs so this is the perfect way to watch these kids blossom," Woody said.
The effort is in partnership with the organization Communities in Schools, a group that works to increase children's educational success in the Richmond and Henrico area.
Harold Fetrer with the organization said that increasing childhood literacy is one of their main objectives.
"Our hope is that we help kids achieve in school and in life. This is really important, to help grow the child's personal library. Because we know reading is kind of the basics for everything else," Fetrer said.
Currently helping over 2,100 students, Fetrer said the success of their program is thanks to the dedicated volunteers and site coordinators who work in these schools.
Chrystal Cook is a site coordinator at Ginter Park Elementary and says community efforts like the Give A Child A Book Campaign are crucial to getting more books into children's hands.
"It helps build their life skills, it helps develop in their future, their future career goals. And it's something that we have to utilize every single day of our lives," Cook said.
The campaign is an annual fundraiser to donate as many books as possible, books that Cook says will have an impact long past their time in the classroom.
"Each student creates their own library at home, so it can be some family time where they can sit down and read books," Cook said.
