OTTAWA AREA ISD RECEIVES GRANT TO SUPPORT CHILDREN’S LITERACY DURING SUMMER - Jun 24, 2022
June 24, 2022

OTTAWA AREA ISD RECEIVES GRANT TO SUPPORT CHILDREN’S LITERACY DURING SUMMER

Ottawa County, MI- Grand Haven Area Community Foundation (GHACF) recently awarded Ottawa Area ISD a $12,500 grant from the Youth Fund of the GHACF to fill the Reading Now Network Book Bike with free children’s books to be handed out during the 2022 Coast Guard Parade in Grand Haven on Saturday, August 6.

Kyle Mayer with the book bike and his family teacher riding the book bike with students and their new books

OAISD Director of Communications and Integrated Marketing Michelle Ready said receiving this grant to supply the Book Bike is a “full-circle” moment.

“A GHACF grant supported the initial purchase of the Book Bike, and we are thrilled to receive another generous grant to fill the Book Bike with summer reading material for children,” Ready said. “We gave away all of our books before we reached the end of the parade last year and are excited to have a much larger supply to hopefully give a book to every child who would like one.”

By partnering with Scholastic, OAISD can purchase nearly 4,000 books with the grant money.

“Scholastic is honored to partner with OAISD to help increase access to books for their students,” said Randee Salisbury, Account Executive, Scholastic Education Solutions. “By providing a variety of high quality and engaging books we are ensuring that every child discovers the power and joy of reading and has the opportunity to create and build their own home libraries.”

OAISD Superintendent Dr. Kyle Mayer will again ride the Book Bike in the parade.

“I have always been passionate about children’s literacy and am thankful for this grant money from GHACF to purchase so many books,” Dr. Mayer said. “I love this project because of the smiles and excitement we see on the faces of children as they receive their free books and the knowledge that this helps them continue to grow and develop as readers in a fun way over the summer.”  

About the GHACF: 
The Grand Haven Area Community Foundation is a public, charitable organization serving the Northwest Ottawa County community since 1971. GHACF is regularly recognized as a top 100 Community Foundation in the nation and is the 9th largest community foundation in the State of Michigan. It encourages philanthropy by individuals, families, corporations, and organizations and serves as a steward of their charitable funds and legacies. In addition to awarding grants, the Foundation offers technical support to nonprofits, convenes community leaders on issues of importance, and advocates for the nonprofit sector. For more information, visit ghacf.org.

Ottawa Area ISD:

Ottawa Area Intermediate School District works collaboratively with schools and communities to meet the educational needs of students of all ages in the Ottawa area. By pooling resources and providing services regionally, OAISD provides important programs and services to local K‐12 school districts, charter, parochial and private schools and adults in the most cost‐effective ways possible. To learn more about OAISD visit www.oaisd.org   

For more information contact Michelle Ready at  (616) 738-8940 Ext. 4093  or mready@oaisd.or