Celebrate Five Years
of York County Reads

Celebrating with
Readers of All Ages

York County Reads turns five this November, and the party is here. From 1 to 5 PM on Sunday the 15th, the lawn and the patios at 2150 Gold Hill Road belong to them: the readers, their families, the tutors who sit across the table from them week after week, and anyone who wants to put a few dollars behind the next child on the list.

Bring the whole family. There will be something for everyone: an afternoon outside, reading celebrated for its own sake, and a plain look at what an hour of one-on-one tutoring does for a child who is still working at it.

The week before, November 8 through 15, young readers are logging minutes and collecting pledges. Two things, one week, four ways in.

The Read-A-Thon

A week, Sunday to Sunday. A child registers, reads at least twenty minutes a day, and writes down the minutes. Before they start, they ask family and friends to back them — a flat amount, or a rate for every minute read. Grandparents two states away are the whole point of this part.

Logging closes at 5 PM on November 15, which is to say at the party. Prizes go to the most minutes read in each grade, the most raised, the most donors, and every reader who hits the goal they set for themselves.

Registration is free and takes a few minutes.

Helping
Readers Grow

York County Reads began in January 2021 as Fort Mill Reads and became a 501(c)(3) that November. The work is one-on-one literacy instruction using the Orton-Gillingham approach: structured, multisensory, sequential, and built for children whose brains do not pick up reading the way a classroom assumes they will. Dyslexia is much of it. Almost anyone who is struggling is welcome.

More than 1,500 hours of that instruction so far, 84% of it delivered free or at a reduced rate, for more than 30 students across York County. Children past thirty sessions are reading with word attack skills up by more than a third, with more fluency, and — the part that matters at the kitchen table — willing to read out loud in front of the class.

Helping readers grow. No- and low-cost literacy instruction for struggling readers across York County, South Carolina. yorkcountyreads.com · lissa@yorkcountyreads.com · 843.343.5501

Questions,
Answered

Do I need a ticket?

Yes. $5 for adults, $2.50 for children three to fourteen, or five gently used books at the gate instead. Buy ahead on the Givebutter page or pay when you arrive. Scholarships are available — email lissa@yorkcountyreads.com and it is handled quietly.

Does a child have to register to read?

To raise money, yes. Registration is free and happens on 99Pledges. Reading without registering is, of course, still reading.

Can we bring books instead of paying?

Five gently used books covers one child, three to fourteen. Adult admission stays at $5.

Is the kitchen open?

We are open 10 am to 8 pm that Sunday, so brunch and supper both run around the afternoon. Allergies, dietary needs, anything the kitchen should know — tell your server. Most plates here can be made vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free. When something can’t, we’ll say so plainly.

Can I bring my dog?

Outside, yes, on a leash. The fenced dog yard is open the whole time.

What if it rains?

We move what we can under cover and the afternoon goes on, the same as any other wet Sunday on the brae. Check York County Reads or our own channels that morning.

Is my donation tax deductible?

York County Reads is a registered 501(c)(3) and the EIN is 87-3399683. What you can actually deduct is a question for your own tax adviser, not for us.

I want to help but I cannot get there.

Donate on the ticket page, or sponsor a reader you know. Both land in the same place.