Meriwest and Autoland, LLC partner to support local non-profit
Assistance League of San Jose’s Readers are Leaders Program
SANTA CLARA, CA (February 26, 2016) — Meriwest Credit Union was proud to recently sponsor Assistance League of San Jose with a $3,000 grant through Autoland, LLC – Auto Buying’s charitable grant program. The funds will help support ALSJ’s Readers are Leaders program.
“As part of our ongoing Community Service initiative and through our partnership with Autoland, Meriwest is pleased to be able to sponsor a program like Readers are Leaders. If this program functions as the impetus to an ongoing interest by our youth to read, then we’ve started them on the right path,” said Tony Cortez, SVP, Chief Experience Officer of Meriwest Credit Union.
“We’re excited to support an innovative program like Readers Are Leaders that reaches so many local area students to foster an interest in reading and put them on a path for future academic success, ” said Jeff Martin, Autoland President and CEO.
Established in 2007, the purpose of Readers Are Leaders is to instill the love of reading in young students by having volunteers read in classrooms on a regular basis. Assistance League of San Jose members entertain, enlighten and encourage students as they read quality, age-appropriate literature. Six times during the school year, volunteers visit second and third grade classrooms. On each visit, they read two books that are then donated to the classroom library. In 2015 alone, the program served 9 schools that contributed over 600 books to the classrooms and reached 1,200 children.
“We are delighted and honored that Autoland has chosen Assistance League’s Readers Are Leaders program as its fourth quarter grant recipient,” said program co-chairs Kathy Mangan and Mary Braley. “We are grateful to Meriwest Credit Union for sponsoring us for this grant. It is heartwarming to know that our children’s literacy program is valued and supported by generous donors that take pride in partnering with philanthropic groups in their community. This grant will help us to expand our reading program to a tenth school next year, reaching another 100 to 150 disadvantaged students.”
