THE MID-COLUMBIA READING FOUNDATION

The Children's Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia's mission is to encourage and educate families about their important role in raising a reader, support schools in assuring that students read at grade level by the end of third grade and facilitate community in helping young readers be successful with the aim to increase graduation rates, increase home ownership, decrease government spending on social services, decrease drop out rates, create strong family connections, and create a healthy thriving community.

CRFMC provides READY! for Kindergarten, Team Read Tutoring, First Teacher Libraries, Books for Babies, READ UP Summer Reading program, and community book distributions to the most needy in the community. These programs provide education, tools, and resources to children and families all across Benton and Franklin Counties.

CRFMC has contracts, grants and donations that annually equal over half a million dollars. CRFMC employs five full time staff and five part time staff to support our programs. We serve over 40,000 people annually and make a huge impact on the local community.

CRFMC has provided Ready! for Kindergarten and Team Read to Kennewick parents for over 20 years and the school district has seen an increase in student preparedness on the first day of Kindergarten. CRFMC annually helps over 200 students move from below grade level reading in the Kennewick elementary schools to on grade level through the Team Read literacy program. CRFMC has also expanded its reach to provide more tools and resources to more parents than ever during COVID. CRFMC has been able to meet 60,000 people over the last nine months due to collaborations with other local nonprofits, hospitals, and social services. This is a massive increase in services from the average year.