Sixty Pitney Bowes volunteers in Washington, Dallas, and Atlanta partnered with Reading Is Fundamental to host nearly 1,400 participants for "Share the Message: READ!" family literacy events. The events were held at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Washington, Cleveland Elementary School in Atlanta, and Robert L. Thornton Elementary School in Dallas.

"Pitney Bowes understands the important role literacy plays in closing the achievement gap," said Kathleen Ryan Mufson, vice president of the Pitney Bowes Foundation. "As a company we are committed to supporting worthwhile education programs like RIF in communities where they are needed the most."

"RIF is proud to partner with Pitney Bowes to provide a fun and educational event for the entire family," said Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. "Events like this really demonstrate the joy of reading to readers of all ages."

In each city, local RIF program coordinators and Pitney Bowes volunteers encouraged children and parents to explore different communications themes on self-guided tours of educational activity stations. The stations focused on communications technology, communicating through the arts, great communicators, language, and animal communication.

The participants collected stamps for their "passport" after visiting each station and completing the related activities. Once the passports were filled with stamps, each child was able to select a book to keep for their home library.

Pitney Bowes' partnership with RIF continues to promote literacy in key communities nationwide. There are plans for additional "Share the Message: READ!" events throughout the year.

About Pitney Bowes
Celebrating its 90th year of innovation, Pitney Bowes provides software, hardware and services that integrate physical and digital communications channels. Long known for making its customers more productive, Pitney Bowes is increasingly helping other companies grow their business. Pitney Bowes is a $5.6 billion company and employs 33,000 worldwide. Pitney Bowes: Every connection is a new opportunity™. www.pb.com

About RIF
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 provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources last year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF's website at www.rif.org.

Discover the Joy!

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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