Boys & Girls Club Early Literacy Program Kicks Off New School Year

The Boys and Girls Club (BGC) and Taylor Farms have a shared dedication to inspiring and enabling young people to reach their full potential in life. We believe literacy and teaching children to be great readers are essential to building a strong educational foundation.

According to BGC statistics, 60% of children in the Tracy Unified School District are not proficient in reading by end of the third grade, and that children who don’t read at the proficient level by the end of third grade have a much higher risk of dropping out of high school.

We believe in the power of knowledge and education, which is why Taylor Farms is pledging $50,000 for the third year in a row to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tracy Early Literacy Program.

Pictured are Robin Lopez, Community Relations, Taylor Farms Pacific and Tom Pulley, President, Taylor Farms Pacific with a group of eager BGC reading program participants!

Last year (2016-2017), the program was hosted at three different BGC sites in Tracy, CA three days a week from October through April. The program supported 63 second grade participants and 65 third grade participants, who were helped by 13 volunteers. There were also external learning opportunities and projects and three “Parent Literacy Nights” to help get the family involved.

The results of these efforts were outstanding:

• 93% of participants improved in decoding
• 90% of participants improved in comprehension
• 94% of participants improved in fluency

To see this program and all of its successes continue, Taylor Farms has continued support to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tracy for the 2017-2018 year.

“It is because of donations like this that we have been able to not only continue the program but also expand it to three sites with over 130 children annually benefiting from this program,” says Yauna Throne, Development Coordinator for Boys & Girls Clubs of Tracy. “We are excited to be able to continue creating positive change and influence on the lives of these young children & the future of our community for years to come!”