Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and Newton Mayor Charles Allen have proclaimed Oct. 24-30, 2010 as “Power Lunch Week,” making it the second annual Power Lunch Week. Power Lunch is a program with Everybody Wins! Iowa. The purpose of the week is to thank volunteers, celebrate the success of Power Lunch and give out free books to children in need.
The celebration will take place during the normal Power Lunch, starting at 11:45 a.m. with a proclamation from Mayor Allen. Following the proclamation, Everybody Wins! Iowa will be visiting five schools to hand out free books. Volunteers will visit Carver Community School, Downtown School, Berg Elementary, St. Theresa School, South Union Elementary, Walnut Street School and Windsor Elementary. Anyone is welcome to attend and learn more about Everybody Wins!.
Everybody Wins! Iowa will be delivering more than 2,000 donated books to local children in need. According to Tyler Weig, the executive director, local celebrities will come to highlight the importance of Power Lunch programs. The ultimate goal of Power Lunch Week is to promote the power of literacy and mentoring through the local media.
Everybody Wins! is a volunteer program to raise literacy rates of students. According to Whitney Longnecker from Everybody Wins! Iowa, about 160,000 Iowans are considered illiterate. Everybody Wins! wants to lower this number and make reading fun.
“We want the kids not only to improve their reading ability but to also enjoy reading,” Longnecker said. This is especially important because for a troubled reader, reading can become strenuous and frustrating.
Everybody Wins! helps kids overcome reading difficulties in many ways. Power Lunch was the first program started. Power Lunch matches a volunteer with a child to read together. The Power Breakfast program was started after the success of Power Lunch. It matches volunteers with children in the morning.
The other programs offered are Book Club and Story Time. For Book Club, a group of kids and volunteers make their way through one book every month. Story Time takes place after school. A group of volunteers read and interact with the children through activities and crafts.
“Everybody Wins! Iowa is always looking for more volunteers, as we can only serve as many children as we have volunteers for,” Longnecker said.
To volunteer, make a donation, or learn more about Everybody Wins! Iowa, visit www.everybodywinsiowa.org
