At the recent bi-weekly Botetourt Kiwanis Club meeting, President John Plenge (left) presented Blue Ridge Library Branch Manager Jaime Duval with a $2,500 gift designated for the “1000 Things Before Kindergarten” initiative.
“I want to thank the Kiwanis for being a community partner over the last three years with supporting our vision to reach more kids and parents in our county with reading and literacy skills programs,” Duval said. “We are looking forward to new opportunities to expand our outreach efforts by making our story times and other early literacy programs available in more locations like we did at the (Botetourt) Farmer’s Market this summer.”
Plenge shared “Our Botetourt County library system has been creative in finding new ways to reach and encourage kids to learn to like reading, the earlier the better. The lifelong benefits of developing strong reading skills early in childhood are profound. As a service organization, we recognize the related challenge in our community and the tremendous potential for a positive impact from these initiatives.”
Those who wish to learn more or possibly volunteer may contact Plenge at jwesleyplenge@me.com or Duval at jduval@botetourtva.gov.