Contra Costa Children and Families Commission Offering $150,000 in Ready, Set, Read Literacy Grants
Prop. 10 Funds Available For Projects That Promote Reading To Young Children

—Contact: Tracy Irwin 925/335-9991 ext. 13

Martinez (September 4, 2002) — The Contra Costa Children and Families Commission is offering $150,000 in Proposition 10 funds to support local family literacy projects that promote reading to children up to age five. Non-profit organizations, individual library branches, public adult school programs and nonprofit child care centers are eligible to apply for a $3,000 Ready, Set, Read grant. Licensed family child care providers are eligible to apply for grants up to $1,500. These grants can be used to purchase books for distribution; develop kindergarten transition materials; create or expand book lending libraries; or to conduct family literacy events (e.g., family story times).

“Ready, Set, Read Grants provide small sums of money for projects that promote children’s reading and language development,” said Brenda Blasingame, executive director of the Contra Costa Children and Families Commission. “Reading out loud to babies and young children has a profound impact on their development and is one of the most important ways to get children ready for success in school.”

The Commission’s previous Ready, Set, Read literacy grants have funded storytelling demonstrations at domestic violence shelters and with adolescent parents and the purchase of Spanish-language children’s books at the Oakley library, among many others. All Ready, Set, Read literacy projects must encourage parent-child interaction. The grants are part of the Commission’s annual Ready, Set, Read Literacy Campaign, which celebrates parents as their child’s first and most important teacher. The Commission will also offer regional family story times at various sites this fall and distribute thousands of books to local families.

Ready, Set, Read grant applications are due October 15, 2002. Applications will be available at the Information Workshops and can be previewed after September 13, 2002 on the Commission’s website, www.cckids.org. Applications can be mailed out by request by calling (925) 335-9991. In order to apply, applicants must attend one of three Commission-sponsored Information Workshops where they will learn more about the application process and refine their ideas with Commission staff.

Information Workshops will take place at the following sites:

In 1998, California voters approved Proposition 10, which levied a 50-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes. Revenues generated are used to fund local health, child care and education programs that promote early childhood development, targeting children during the prenatal stage to age five, as well as anti-tobacco education.