READ > LEAD > ACHIEVE
Celebrating Read > Lead > Achieve Month in Your Community Every September, Pi Beta Phi celebrates Read > Lead > Achieve® Month. All Pi Phis are encouraged to participate, donate and advocate for literacy through our reading initiatives, both during Read > Lead > Achieve Month and all year long. There are countless ways you can celebrate, and we hope you observe the month in a way that both benefits your community and is meaningful for you and your sisters. Are you a member outside a club area? Grab a fellow Pi Phi sister and put together an event in your community or virtually. Below are five ideas to get you started.
1. BECOME A LITERACY ADVOCATE IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY Attend school board and parent/teacher association meetings or use time at home to research ways to advocate in your community. Submit a letter to the editor of your local paper, write to your Member of Congress, use social media to reach elected officials or attend town hall meetings to bring the discussion to local or state officials.
3. HOST A PHILANTHROPY EVENT Philanthropy events can be as simple as partnering with a school or literacy program to host a book or school supply drive or creating a neighborhood library for local children. They can also be more knowledge-based events, such as spelling bees, trivia nights or speed reading. If you can’t gather with your sisters to host a traditional book drive, work with a library, school or organization in your community to make an online wish list, then send them the donated books you receive. Consider the following event ideas from chapters and clubs as inspiration for future event ideas. The Illinois Eta Chapter hosted its annual Breakfast for Champions spring philanthropy event. This event raised more than $2,500, and the chapter collected over 1,500 books.
2. APPLY FOR AN FDS500 GRANT Through Pi Beta Phi Foundation’s FDS500 program, the Fraternity awards grants to recipient groups nominated by chapters and clubs. The grants are used to purchase up to $1,000 worth of books from First Book®, which are then given to children in need. Grant nominations are open at pibetaphi.org/literacy from September 1-15, 2022.
Members of Illinois Eta at the chapter's Breakfast for Champions event.
In 2021, Michigan Gamma used funding to donate 500 books to local East Lansing and Lansing schools. The chapter also supports literacy in their community through projects like a Little Free Library. Front row, from left: EMILY MCCUE and OLIVIA MENOSKY. Back row, from left: CLAIRE LANKO, ALLIE HORNING, KRISTEN GRAHAM, MICHELLE POWELL and LAUREN BRESKY.
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The Connecticut Alpha Chapter hosted a Blind Date with a Book philanthropy event. Chapter members bought new and used books, wrapped them in brown paper and sold them with a few clues as to the genre and plot— a great way to bring literacy into philanthropy.
