Parks and Recreation
News Release
For Immediate Release: Sept. 3, 2009
Contact: Kim Becker
City of Henderson Parks and Recreation Department
BloggersUnite.org Partners with APPLE Partnership and Bloggers Worldwide to Raise Awareness For Literacy on Sept. 8
HENDERSON, Nev. — BloggersUnite.org is partnering with the APPLE Partnership in cooperation with Barnes & Noble; BlogCatalog.com; the City of Henderson; Copywrite, Ink.; FedEx; PBS&J; and Wal-Mart for International Literacy Day on Sept. 8. The online campaign asks bloggers, journalists, and companies to help raise awareness for literacy by dedicating a blog post, press release, or online message that points people to local, regional, and international programs that increase literacy around the world.
International Literacy Day was originally proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1965 with the aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. The UNESCO theme places the spotlight on its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. At BloggersUnite.org, individual bloggers have designated literacy as this year’s most underserved need.
“In 2004, after Mayor Jim Gibson and the Henderson City Council became alarmed by the startling statistics about local childhood literacy, we partnered with the Clark County School District, parents and teachers to develop a proactive way to help families help children learn how to read,” said City of Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen. “We’re proud to continue this legacy for literacy and to do our part as a community, and we hope, by providing an example, other communities can do their part to improve literacy and give all children a chance to succeed.”
As part of the BloggersUnite.org initiative, the APPLE Partnership and its sponsors are being included as one of hundreds of examples of encouraging communities to fight for literacy worldwide.
The APPLE Partnership actively works to bring community resources to schools, teachers and parents to help families help children learn how to read. In one facet of outreach, the City of Henderson Parks and Recreation Department’s before- and after-school Safekey program works in conjunction with APPLE as Safekey participants receive assistance with reading and work toward a collective goal of the most minutes read per school. The Clark County School District southeast region school that tallies the most minutes read receives a computer lab donated by PBS&J, a long-time program sponsor.
Since 2007, BlogCatalog’s Bloggers Unite initiative has evolved from the first blogger-driven social awareness campaign into a self-sustaining social awareness network. More than 200,000 bloggers interact on BlogCatalog.com every day and provide the foundation for BloggersUnite.org. For more information, visit http://www.bloggersunite.org or visit http://www.cityofhenderson.com/parks.
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