Reading event celebrates literacy, giving back to community

FALLBROOK – Fallbrook families converged on Maie Ellis auditorium on April 1 to celebrate a day of literacy and community service.

A large number of parents attended workshops presented by the Fallbrook Union Elementary School cohort of California State University San Marcos student teachers and Palomar Family Counseling.

Children had the opportunity to hear stories read by volunteer guest readers and nearly 100 students from Fallbrook and Rainbow schools volunteered to be of service to their community. The Cesar Chavez Foundation provided backpacks for each student and other contributors and community supporters sponsored books for every parent and child in attendance.

Potter Junior High and Maie Ellis PTAs, as well as the Fallbrook Library and the Fallbrook Health Center, hosted the Crafts Faire activity stations. Local musicians from Grupo Ambiente Musical played for more than two hours as participants took to dancing and enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the Maie Ellis lawn.

This was the 13th annual Fallbrook A Leer/Reading Family Literacy, a grassroots effort conducted entirely by volunteers with donated funds and services.

The goals of the project are to increase literacy by encouraging reading at home as a family and to strengthen neighborhoods by encouraging students to give to their community by being of service to others through the legacy of the late labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. For more information on the event and how to get involved, contact Leticia Maldonado/Stamos at [email protected].