Reading initiative kicks off Thursday


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Several groups will launch a reading initiative Thurday with a 25,000 book give away.

The event will starts at 10:30 a.m. at the Allison Foundation, 4540 West Washington Blvd.

Speakers will talk about the value of reading, and the establishment of reading clubs in churches and other locations throughout the community.

Those involved in the reading initiative include Congressman Danny K. Davis, First Book, the Chicago Westside Branch of the NAACP, the 7th CD Clergy Advisory Committee, Sankofa Safe Child Initiative, the Allison Foundation, the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Teachers Union.

Congressman Davis, the son of sharecroppers who attended a one-room school, credits learning to read at an early age, and liking it, for much of whatever success he has experienced in life.

He has often said, “If a person likes to read, he or she never has to be lonely, bored or isolated. A good book will cure much of that.”

The distribution of books will begin Saturday, Aug. 16, the congressman’s annual back-to-school picnic and parade at Columbus Park, at Jackson and Central avenues.

“This is one of the most exciting activities in which I have been involved during my 35 years as an elected official,” Davis said in a press release.

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