Get Involved

Volunteers Read to Students

In addition to teachers and students, parents, principals, and community volunteers come into the classroom or auditorium to read to the students during Motivational Events. We all celebrate reading and marvel at the wonderful illustrations in our books.

Volunteer

RIFSoCal volunteers help our schools conduct three Motivational Reading Events annually in one of our 224 sites, distributing over 225,000 new books to 75,000 children. Participating sites include Title I elementary schools, Head Start programs, and a variety of community service programs. A book event can be as simple as a volunteer reading to a group of children or as complex as a festival celebrating a particular culture or holiday in an elaborately decorated auditorium with thematic activities. At the end of every RIFSoCal book event, each child gets to CHOOSE a brand new book to keep and share with their families, compelling them to read for pleasure.

Details

• Available during school hours
• Travel to sites located within the Greater Los Angeles area.
• Love working with children
• Desire to impact children’s literacy

Literacy Based Events: Volunteers are matched with a geographically accessible site, and assist with the implementation of 3 events during the September through June school year. Schedule of events varies between sites.

Book Warehouse: Volunteers assist at the book warehouse site to unpack shipments of books, sort them by age/grade level and place them on the appropriate shelves. Volunteers also help site coordinators when they come in to choose their books for their site’s Literacy Based Events.

Raymond Unpacks Boxes of Books

Volunteers come into the warehouse to help unpack books. Some volunteer once a week for a few hours, some call ahead and come in when they can. Volunteers are the backbone of RIF.  Raymond is opening boxes and sorting books in order to place them in the appropriate sections…..then the coordinators will arrive to select books for their schools.  It is a thrill to see all of the interesting titles and subjects; it’s wonderful to think of each child who will choose a book to treasure.

Getting Involved

It is difficult for many of us to imagine not having the resources to obtain books, but this is the case with so many children RIFSoCal serves. RIFSoCal books are often the first book in the home, becoming the beginning of a personal home library.

With service to Los Angeles County’s most resource-deprived children since 1972, RIFSoCal has witnessed thousands of life-changing moments and received innumerable testimonials from grateful participants. We are now into our second and third generation of RIFSoCal “kids.”

RIFSoCal will build the personal libraries of more than 75,000 children in the Greater Los Angeles area in the 2009 – 2010 program year, distributing over 225,000 new books of choice at more than 200 sites, including Title I public and parochial schools, Head Start programs, and community-based organizations.