WASHINGTON - In honor of National Volunteer Week, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF®) has named five notable literacy advocates as winners of the 2006 Anne Richardson RIF Volunteer of the Year Award (VOYA), presented by The Coca-Cola Company. RIF recognizes Wendy McClure of Camp Hill, Pa.; Marcia Hosfeld of Shreve, Ohio; Keith Baldwin of Hancock, Mich.; Ann Tackett of Aberdeen, Miss.; and Sally Dyches of Moroni, Utah for their accomplishments serving the needs of children and families in their communities.

"Organizations like RIF could not exist without the efforts of volunteers of this caliber," said Carol H. Rasco, RIF's president and CEO. "We are thankful to all of our volunteers for their many hours devoted to showing our youth the joys of reading."

VOYAs have a history of developing new and innovative ways to serve RIF, children and their respective communities. This year's awardees continue this tradition.

A whiz at getting her community involved in school activities, Wendy McClure has spread the joy of reading throughout the Lemoyne area for the past three years. When she is not working at the Cleve J. Fredricksen Public Library, McClure is making sure the 360 students at Washington Heights Elementary are able to choose and keep their favorite RIF books. Highlights of this PTA President's RIF experience includes hosting the national organization's "300 Millionth Book" with more than 600 community members in attendance and organizing a county-wide scavenger hunt where students gained points and prizes for finding book titles in the storefronts of more than 40 local businesses.

For the past 25 years, Marcia Hosfeld has combined her passion for books and bear collecting to create "beary" fun enrichment activities and resources for the students of Shreve Elementary School, where she works as the school librarian and volunteer RIF coordinator. Hosfeld has hosted hundreds of literacy activities over the years. One of her more popular reading events combined Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express with a community service opportunity. Each child wore their pajamas to school and enjoyed hot chocolate during the book distribution. At the same time, a book sale was held to raise funds to purchase books and toys for the children of military families at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

When Keith Baldwin started the Kiwanis Club of Copper County's RIF program 25 years ago, the partnership was one of the first for the two national organizations. As the RIF program expanded to serve additional schools, Baldwin developed a coding system to manage the unwieldy sorting process. This system was later adapted by two major books suppliers and is now used to efficiently sort and deliver RIF books to schools in more than nine school districts, where they are stamped and distributed by local Kiwanis club members. Today, due in large part to Baldwin's pioneering efforts, the national Kiwanis organization designates RIF a "priority one" program and encourages Kiwanis volunteers to sponsor RIF programs in communities throughout the United States.

Ann Tackett is the director of the Monroe County Families First Resource Center, which operates the innovative RIF literacy program Shared Beginnings, a program for teen parents and their children. Through her vision of building a community of readers, Tackett, her staff, and the RIF participants have created numerous meaningful and memorable book events. When Hurricane Katrina sent 200 men, women, and children to Tackett's community, almost overnight, she was able to organize the center as a home base for hurricane survivors who used computers and fax machines to apply for aid. Tackett also collected food and clothing donations for those affected by the disaster and helped secure toys and books for the children.

After 35 years of service to the North Sanpete School District--most recently as the special education director--Sally Dyches will retire knowing that she has helped the children at Mornoni Elementary School choose and keep a total of 27,000 books. Dyches initiated the RIF program through the Mornoni PTA, more than 27 years ago, because of the high level of need in the rural farming community. She has served as the program coordinator ever since. Dyches believes that access to books is a key to success and is proud to have helped provide Moroni children countless opportunities to choose and keep a book of their own.

Made possible this year by a donation from The Coca-Cola Company, the Anne Richardson RIF Volunteer of the Year Awards honor extraordinary RIF volunteers across the country and pays tribute to the late Anne Hazard Richardson, who served as RIF's chairperson from 1981 to 1996. An independent panel of judges selects one winner from each RIF region based on their demonstrated concern for children and education, development of innovative programs that encourage family involvement, mobilization of the local community in service to RIF, cultivation of a diverse funding base for their RIF program, and overall literacy leadership.

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at www.rif.org.

Celebrating the Joy of Reading for 40 Years

Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF's highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at www.rif.org.

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