Kids are our future, and it is important that we ensure they grow up with plenty of resources to grow and learn throughout their childhood. Kids Fest, which was held at Friendship Park in Avondale last weekend on April 6th, was an amazing opportunity for volunteers to come together and create a Book-In-A-Bag for each child. Our Book-In-A-Bag Project makes literacy fun for kids. It includes a childhood book in a decorated paper lunch bag that holds reading tips for parents, bookmarks, inspirational artwork, and more. Volunteers from some of our corporate sponsors put these bags together for 9 awesome volunteers to hand out to the kids during Kids Fest last weekend.

Kids Fest is the kick off to the Week of the Young Child week. The fest is filled with tons of activities and learning experiences and is held to recognize the young children in Avondale. This fest is also a way for parents and family members to learn about more resources they can access to ensure their kids are school ready. Valley of the Sun United Way has been there from the very beginning - being one of the first founding partners with the City of Avondale. United Way is a lead facilitator for Read on Avondale, which has been recognized as a pace setter for school-readiness. With our work in this community, we are proudly and consistently improving 3rd grade reading levels.

We brought over 1300 books in 9 boxes, and 6 boxes were cleared and given out to the kids at Kids Fest. We would not be able to do this without the help and support from both our for-profit and nonprofit partners across the Avondale footprint. We are grateful for our amazing volunteers who put the Books-In-A-Bag together and the volunteers who took the time out of their Saturday morning to spread the joy of literacy to the children of Avondale.