“In the summer months our bookmobile travels to 30 communities on Indian reservations across South Dakota,” said Mary Jane, RIF Coordinator for St. Joseph’s Indian School. “In 2011, our Reach Out van traveled over 4,000 miles and distributed new books to 3,600 American Indian children. Three times during the school year, each student at St. Joseph’s has the opportunity to choose a new book as well.” In March, a study commissioned by Pine-Sol concluded a clean-smelling house can be a factor in students’ higher grade point averages. In response to this finding, Pine-Sol teamed up with RIF, donating $50,000 to help children gain access to the books they need to achieve. In addition, Pine-Sol hosted a “Like” campaign on the brand’s Facebook page to create awareness of the partnership.
“We are thankful to Pine-Sol for their generous support of our mission,” said Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. “Their support comes at a critical time when RIF programs nationwide are juggling tighter budgets due to the loss of federal funding and more children and families are depending on our services.” Earlier this year, Congress eliminated $25 million in federal funding for RIF, representing nearly 80% of the organization’s operating revenue. As a result of this deep cut, RIF is now wholly dependent on support from private sources to run their book distribution program at previous levels — giving 4 million children approximately 15 million books annually. Thanks to programs like RIF and friends like you, St. Joseph’s Indian School is able to provide books to poverty-stricken households across South Dakota. Wopila tanka - many thanks - for your generous support! |
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