YWCA seeking volunteers for Reading to End Racism

Posted on September 19, 2015

*The YWCA got the idea for Reading to End Racism from a YWCA in Colorado. (WJBC file photo)*

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – YWCA McLean County is seeking volunteers for its new program, Reading to End Racism.

The program was orginally started in Boulder, Colo. YWCA Director of Mission Impact Norine Ball said the program involves volunteers reading to children in the classroom and stimulating an insightful conversation about race.

“If the volunteer, him or herself, if the story that they’ve chosen resignates with them and that sparks a story in their experience, then they share that experience with the students,” she said.

Ball said they’re hoping to find 22-25 volunteers for the program, with hopes of piloting it later this year.

“We take all the volunteers into the school at the same time,” said Ball. “They go to all the different classroom and they’re there for an hour to and hour-and-a-half reading and discussing with the students, so that it’s all done on the same day at the same time.”

Both Washington Elementary School and Cedar Ridge Elementary School will host the program. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Ball at [email protected].

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].

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