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I hope you enjoyed the long Thanksgiving weekend as much as I did. Nothing like a little turkey, football, family time and, of course, napping!

If you’re like thousands of brave souls, maybe you did a little Black Friday shopping, too. In our buying frenzy, we sometimes forget what the holidays are really about: GIVING. Now, there’s a special day dedicated to charitable activities.

Giving Tuesday follows the biggest shopping weekend of the year. It challenges people nationwide to get involved with philanthropic projects in their community or give financial support to a local non-profit. It’s a great concept that really turns the consumer mentality on its head.

This year, we’d like to encourage your involvement in our Richard Yoakley School outreach efforts. With your donation, you can help make an impact on hundreds of teens attending the school each year.

What You’re Supporting

Richard Yoakley students are all serving long-term suspensions from their base schools. The suspensions typically result from offenses like drugs and fighting. Many students are economically disadvantaged and behind their peers in critical academic areas, like reading.

In addition to providing volunteers and guest speakers for the school, MDC helps support the school’s Accelerated Reader (AR) program. AR helps build excitement for reading, boosts reading skills and builds vocabulary.

The AR program has shown some exciting gains this year. Between January and June, the average reading level of students participating in the program rose from a 6th-7th grade level to a 9th-10th grade level. That’s 2.7 grade levels!

How You Can Help

Help us continue our work at Richard Yoakley. Even a small contribution can make a big impact:

  • $25 = Three packs of t-shirts for students who may not otherwise afford them

  • $50 = Two books requested by students in the AR program

  • $75 = A Kindle eReader for the top AR student to encourage continued reading

We hope that you will consider giving to MDC today with a gift of your time or a tax-deductible donation. Click the Donate button on the right hand sidebar or visit the Join Us page to learn how to can get involved as a volunteer.

Happy giving!