Austin Kids Read Books to Help India’s Kids Learn to Read

This year, 26 kids from the Austin community participated in the 2015 Readathon, the annual event in which children in the US read books to support Pratham’s literacy programs in India, where 100 million children are unable to read or write. The competition raised $22,000 locally, which will help 894 Indian children.

Our superhero readers Keshav Gupta and Krish Nasta each raised over $2,000. “I love to read,” explained Keshav, “because when I read, I can learn a lot, meet new people, discover new places, find new ideas, improve my vocabulary, use my imagination and never get bored! I am so happy that with your donation my reading will help many other children.”

The Austin chapter won match money from the Chairman’s Challenge in June and from the Free to Read Challenge in July. We also received $8,000 from a local anonymous sponsor to match all donations received during those two months. Our chapter efforts toward Pratham’s Readathon enabled us to receive matching funds via a $50,000 Challenge Grant from the Tarsadia Foundation.

To recognize the efforts of our dedicated Austin readers, a Pizza and Prizes Party was held on August 23 with music from local middle school rockers Bat City.

Thank you to all our young readers, their families and sponsors, and our generous local and national sponsors, mentors and co-chairs. If you love to read and want to participate in our next Readathon, please email readathon@prathamusa.org.

Watch Soumya’s Art of Giving video: