It's National Reading Day and WPTV is making sure the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County is able to help every child and adult become a reader.
Today on 5 morning anchor Mike Trim and WPTV Vice President and General Manager Lloyd Bucher presented the coalition with a $10-thousand grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation.
The grant is part of the foundation's "If You Give a Child a Book ..." campaign. The foundation is distributing more than 172,000 books across the country to children in need.
Before the check presentation, Trim and Bucher read to preschool students from the Delray Beach Achievement Center.
The organization says 46 percent of third-grade students in Palm Beach County read below grade level.
Children who can't read well by the fourth grade begin to fall behind and they're at a greater risk of dropping out.
“Just take fifteen minutes a day and read to your child, I know it’s hard when you’re tired at the end of the day, but fifteen minutes will go a long way and also let them see you read," said Literacy Coalition CEO Kristin Calder.
Every book generates about 180 minutes of reading for a child, according to the Scholastic Book Fairs group. The books the Scripps Howard Foundation will give away will generate nearly 31 million reading minutes.