BCFI Literacy Program takes shape
By Brandon Moore

On January 17, 2004 a church group got the ball rolling on BCFI’s Literacy project, washing windows, walls and vacuuming, to help prepare the soon to be opened reading resource room and library for the next step.

The 17-member clean-up crew from St. Therese Catholic church kicked off a weekend of clean-up activity. The clean-up crew consisted of: Brian Hagler, Mary Jo. Kinne, Chris Blackburn, Heather Blackburn, Kenny Blackburn, Tom Thompson, Jeff Gilbert, Jean Gilbert, Tessa Snyder, Carol Fox, Scott Helmic, Duane Davis, Eugene Schmitt, Anqie Phillips and Valerie Benjamin.

On January 19, as a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a group of college students and AKA members treated the holiday as a “day on, not a day off.” They painted walls and furnishings, and cataloged books for the future literacy and resource room. "We’re really excited about this new opportunity to reach out to more children in the surrounding area”, said Cynthia Thomas, Black Child and Family Institute education director.

BCFI will soon kick off its literacy program thanks to organizations like Bank One and Alpha Kappa Sorority inc, Chi Epsilon Omega chapter of East Lansing.
In September, Bank One donated $5,000 to the institute for nearly 400 new books to start its community resource room and future location of its literacy program.

The literacy program is designed to help people encourage reading from kindergarten through adulthood. “Reading is one of our signature programs,” explained Dr. Carrie Jackson, president of the AKAs and vice president of the BCFI board. “This is an extension of the reading academy.”“We know that reading is one key to success, so we want to see children at BCFI every day getting excited about reading,” Ms. Thomas said.