United Way Turks & Caicos Read-a-Thon and Relay a Success

#Providenciales, April 25, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – To encourage youngsters to read for pleasure and raising funds for charity, United Way Turks and Caicos has just completed a very successful Read-a-thon across primary schools in Providenciales, raising a fantastic $18,321.85 for reading programs across the territory.

The read-a-thon was a five-week event during which students tracked the number of hours they spent reading outside of school while receiving money. The event climaxed on Monday, April 22nd, 2019 with a Reading Relay and colour party.

“The overall goal of the read-a-thon and relay events was to foster a love of reading within each student and to raise funds to support the participating schools and United Way TCI’s reading programs throughout the Government Schools”, says Executive Director Claudine Ewing.

Executive Director Ewing added, “This will be an annual event and we are excited about the success of this year’s event. A total of eleven schools participated, reading over 42, 280 minutes. I would like to say thank you to the Schools and Parents for their support during our Read-a-Thon. We have some impressive readers in the Turks and Caicos; well-done students, well done. You have not only made your schools proud but also your country in your effort to give back to the community and children in need.”

United Way TCI will donate twenty-five percent of proceeds raised by each school to their Parent Teachers Association Fund, while the remaining seventy-five percent will go to the Reading Intervention Program- ‘Yes I Can Read’ Fund, which is an after-school tutoring program helping children become better readers.

The Reading Intervention Program has already been launched through a pilot program at the Enid Capron Primary School.

As part of the Reading programs, the United Way TCI is proud to have the following sponsors on board. Our Major sponsors are Gilley’s Enterprises, Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International, The Hartling Group, Grace Bay Resorts Foundation, and the Turks & Caicos Islands Education Department. Our Gold sponsors include Cairsea Services, Ocean Club Resorts, Wymara Resort, InterHealth Canada-Turks & Caicos Hospital, Provo Travel Ltd., Casablanca, F Chambers, The A-Team Accounting Firm, Hertz/dollar/thrifty, and PTV8. The Silver sponsors are Pavilion Management, Top of the cove, Play Land, Scotia Bank, Designs By Natay, NW Hamilton, Bite me Charter, and Provo Beverages. Our Bronze Sponsors are IGA Supermarkets, Shay’s café, Somerset Resort, Kandles By Katy, Sand Castle Convenient Store, First Caribbean International Bank, Hemmingways Restaurant, Opus Restaurant, and Misick & Stanbrook.

United Way TCI would like to extend a special thank you to the many volunteers who have assisted with the organizing of the Read-a-thon, Reading Relay and their active roles as Super Heroes. Without you, this project would not have been such a success. Also to the teams from The Ministry of Health and Human Services and The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, present at the Reading Relay Event.

Release: TCI Police