DNC Host Committee to Donate $750k to Philly Schools
Photo | It’s Our City via Flickr / Creative Commons
The 2016 Democratic National Convention Host Committee will donate $750k to bring books to Philly’s public schools, the organization announced yesterday,
The money will go toward the Right Books Campaign – an arm of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia – which plans to distribute 80,000 books across the district’s elementary schools.
DNC Host Committee chair and former Governor Ed Rendell announced the donation yesterday afternoon at Ludlow Elementary School alongside Mayor Jim Kenney and Superintendent William R. Hite.
It's official! @SDPHite, @GovEdRendell & @PhillyMayor join Mrs. Ott's class @ Ludlow for #TheRightBooks announcement! pic.twitter.com/n7kPtVMa0g
— Philadelphia Schools (@PHLschools) December 19, 2016
The committee raised more than $85 million for the DNC held this past July, made possible by taxpayer money and various corporate and individual donations eventually disclosed in the committee’s financial report. Rendell told the Inquirer that he reached out to Hite for a suggestion as to where to donate the money, and Hite immediately recommended the Right Books Campaign.
The campaign is part of the district’s push to increase literacy among elementary school students. The district has pledged to put $20 million over a three-year period toward that goal – and the William Penn Foundation and the Lenfest Foundation have committed to donating $10 million as well.
Out of the district’s 150 elementary schools, 93 have received books and literacy training through the program so far. The donation from the DNC host committee will reportedly bring the campaign within $1 million of its goal.
https://twitter.com/SDPHite/status/810919908490047488
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