When you give, We all Shine

When people donate money, it's normally for a cause that matches their values. One of the most important community values is education. The United Way of Central Alabama is committed to sponsoring initiatives and providing resources for many agencies involved in educating children.

• Success by 6 -- United Way of Central Alabama’s Success By 6 focus is to improve the reading readiness skills of 4-year olds who attend preschool programs in at-risk communities. The ability to read well and enjoy it is critical to future success in school. Read how Chris has benefited from this initiative.
• Better Basics -- our mission is to advance literacy by providing reading intervention and enrichment in high-need schools. Our programs began in one Birmingham City elementary school in 1994. Since then, we have been invited into over 60 schools in Birmingham and surrounding school systems. Over 100 staff members and 400 volunteers helped struggling young readers make great strides in reading and learning skills. During the 2006-2007 school year, we tutored over 800 students, gave away over 36,000 books to 4th graders, provided a hundred parents educational activities to do with their children, and provided enrichment programs to thousands of students.
• BIRMINGHAM CITY SCHOOLS—SPECIAL NEEDS FUND -- Provides clothing and assistance with medical needs for underprivileged students, and transportation for qualified special education students.
• Literacy Council - The Literacy Council provides free-of-charge tutor training workshops throughout the year to certify volunteers as Basic Literacy and/or ESOL tutors. The Literacy Council also teaches workshops for volunteers wanting to tutor school-aged children. After completing a workshop, participants are ProLiteracy certified tutors and are ready to volunteer in area programs.

Gus Jones