2022 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.
Recipients include organizations such as Title I schools in districts with Foundations, 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.
ReadOKC is a literacy program managed by the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) Foundation to promote a love of reading for children in the Oklahoma City community. Oklahoma Alpha Alison Evans Taylor became the first ReadOKC volunteer and had an integral role in helping plan the first initiatives, such as reading challenges and reading buddy programs during school breaks.
In the summer of 2020, Alison worked with the OKCPS Foundation to bring ReadOKC On the Go! with a booksmobile. After spending that fall brainstorming and looking at design options, Alison realized this vision was turning into a reality. “When I got those first blueprints, which I still have to this day, I was very emotional. I knew this could be a catalyst for so many things.” From there, ReadOKC On the Go! was established.
With only blueprints and drawings to show, Alison nominated the OKCPS Foundation for a Local Impact Grant through the Pi Beta Phi Foundation. As their vision proved to be promising, ReadOKC On the Go! received the grant that year. “Those funds enabled us to purchase the very first books for the bus,” she says. “Pi Beta Phi was there day one; they were integral to this happening.”
Many children in the OKCPS district grow up in some level of poverty, and while ReadOKC’s mission is rooted in accessible literacy, reaching out to children on a personal level and witnessing their joy is what Alison loves most about the program. “The reason we do this is to let kids know we care about them,” she explains. “We want them to know they’re important, and even if their home lives may be difficult, we are always going to be there and show up for them.”
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.