The Leaside Rotary Club provides financial support for local initiatives to help in the community – especially child-focused projects. One of Rotary’s seven areas of focus is “Education and Literacy” initiatives, and this is why Rotary has supported LiftED Literacy and Leadership’s literacy programming for several years.
LiftED supports students in underserved Toronto communities such as Thorncliffe Park, St. James Town, Scarborough, Jane and Driftwood. Through access to high-quality learning opportunities, LiftED empowers students to thrive and explore their full potential. They do this by providing free out-of-school literacy and leadership programs where students learn new skills in a safe and engaging environment. Their core programs focus on children in Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Those programs include Saturday Morning Literacy Clubs, Take the LEAD: A Community Action Club, March Break Math Literacy and LEAP into Literacy Summer Camps. They reach over 770 kids each year.
LiftED tracks the results and is proud to say that 83 per cent of their students improved their school performance in math and literacy with a 93 per cent approval rating from both parents and kids. One of the parents wrote about the program saying: “My son likes all things about the programs even more than his regular school.”
For more information on the LiftED programs, go to www.liftededucation.org and contact Executive Director Jessica Murphy.
LiftED Literacy and Leadership is just one of the local community initiatives that Toronto Leaside Rotary is proud to sponsor and be partnered with. If you want to make a positive change in your Leaside community and around the world, contact Toronto – Leaside Rotary at: .
This article was guest contributed by Craig Hutchinson.