Our Story   

​

It began when one of us was at a Salvation Army decorating for Christmas lunch. There was a stack of scrap paper behind the desk that said, "Give to children while they wait." That night, the creative juices began to flow.

​

Knowing the importance of language and literacy in children's lives, and the dire lack of both for children in poverty, this project was born.  

​

Our Mission

​

Our mission is to increase children's experiences with language, literacy, and human interactions to better understand themselves, communicate with others, and interact with the world.

​

 

 

 

 

PoWeR!

​

PoWeR! stands for Play, Write, and Read! Language, literacy, and interactions with others are stimulated and strengthened when children play, write, and read. 

​

We are a Volunteer Organization in Lower Northern Michigan. We began in March of 2016 and are currently partnering to share literacy with children at over 91 different sites in 19 counties. As our pool of volunteers and literacy supplies grows, so too, does our reach. We want to positively impact as many children and families as we are able! 

 

Our goal is to provide a consistent, on-going supply of language and literacy materials for children of all ages.  No matter where they are "meeting" us, children are invited to take a literacy book bag which contains a fun finger puppet, a box of crayons, writing booklets, and a book mark. Age appropriate books are also provided. Whenever possible, children and families are invited to select the books they would like to take home and add to their own libraries.  On each subsequent "visit" with us, children are invited to collect more books and writing supplies. PoWeR! book bags are intended to be tools for building language and literacy with children and their families as they play, write, and read with the materials.

 

Let's help children grow to be the best that they can be, one book (and book bag) at a time! 

​​