2021 Local Impact Grant Recipients

Pi Beta Phi believes reading always has been—and always will be—a powerful step toward a life of enduring impact. Our members seek to inspire a lifelong love of reading through Read > Lead > Achieve^® literacy initiatives, fundraising events and activities, making a difference for children in communities across North America.

Local Impact Grants help expand the reach of the Fraternity’s literacy work while also providing a way for Pi Phis to support reading programs and access to books for children close to home. As chapters and alumnae clubs fundraise for The Literacy Fund at Pi Beta Phi Foundation, they can nominate an organization in their community to receive a Local Impact Grant from our Foundation. The program allows clubs and chapters to direct 25% of their fundraising contributions to a literacy-focused nonprofit, matched dollar-for-dollar by a grant from our Foundation.

In 2021, our Foundation provided $60,113.56 in Local Impact Grants to 30 organizations, bringing the total amount awarded to more than $743,500 since the program’s launch in 2013. Recipients include organizations such as Title I schools, tutoring and mentoring programs and community foundations. Grants are used to support literacy programs and purchase books for classroom and home libraries—providing reading materials for children who otherwise might not have access to quality, age-appropriate books.

The Wisconsin Alpha Chapter nominated the Madison Reading Project to receive a Local Impact Grant. Fundraising Coordinator Sarah Burke said the grant would support the organization’s Books & Activity Kits program. “We send monthly kits filled with books and an art or STEM project to our community partners, serving more than 400 children in the area,” Sarah reported.

Team First Book Philadelphia and the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC), nominated by the Philadelphia-Main Line, Pennsylvania, Alumnae Club, said their grant would help reopen libraries and prepare students as they returned to in-person learning. “When the Philadelphia Public Schools shut down in March 2020, at least 2,400 books were checked out of our libraries,” explained Marni Fogelson, co-chair of Team First Book Philadelphia. “We anticipate we will need to replace many of those titles. The Foundation's support will allow us to remain flexible as we work to reopen our libraries and prepare for the 4,750 students we serve.”

Still other organizations used their grants to better support their diverse communities. The Momentous Institute, nominated by the Dallas, Texas, Alumnae Club, said the funds would help increase its take-home collection of early childhood Spanish-language titles, better serving bilingual students. The House Tuscaloosa, nominated by the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alumnae Club, designated its grant to purchase children’s books written by Black authors for its community bookstore.

Thank you to the Pi Beta Phi alumnae clubs and chapters that nominated organizations to receive Local Impact Grants—and congratulations to the grant recipients! Learn more about the ways Pi Beta Phi Foundation supports Pi Phi’s commitment to literacy here.