Why Room to Read?
We spent a lot of time looking at charities in Nepal.
We settled on Room to Read for their ambitious goals (educate 10million children) and their results oriented mindset (100% of the schools and libraries they have built have been completed on budget and on time).
We were impressed with their low operating overhead (less than 5.3% of donations) and their commitment to employing people where they build libraries and schools.
We also find them to be extremely nice people willing to work with us to make this happen.
Room to Read has endorsed our Ride. As John Wood, the founder of Room to Read said, “We thrive on entrepreneurial spirit and creative ideas: The ‘Ride to Read’ is a classic example of passionate and dedicated people committing themselves to bringing children the lifelong gift of education. We are proud to be part of the same team!"
About Room to Read
Operating in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia and India, Room to Read seeks to intervene early in the lives of children and help provide them with an education and the lifelong gift of literacy. They have developed a successful three-pronged approach to the problem of rural education:
- Partnering with communities to build schools
- Establishing libraries and filling them with books and computers
- Providing scholarships for under-privileged young girls
To increase the likelihood for success, Room to Read enlists community involvement. Their 'challenge grants' require villages to raise a significant portion of the overall expenditure (through donated land, labor, materials and cash) for building a new school, thereby allowing their cash donations to go further so that they can help more villages. They also establish libraries, computer labs and language labs in conjunction with schools whereby they contribute shelves, desk, and chairs. Their 'challenge grants' act as catalysts for community building while also maximizing the local participation and expertise brought to their programs to ensure they are run efficiently and effectively.
Room to Read is a dynamic, results-oriented organization. Since their inception as a non-profit entity in 2000, they have impacted the lives of over 160,000 children by:
- Building 60 schools
- Establishing over 700 libraries
- Shipping over 300,000 books
- Establishing 23 computer and language labs
- Funding over 400 long-term scholarships
Room to Read have assembled an enthusiastic and dedicated team of hundreds of international volunteers that manage all facets of operations. In addition, they have a talented team of staff in each partner country. Find out more about their management team.
Room to Read has also established partnerships with many organizations, both in U.S. and Asia, in a belief that by leveraging our collective strengths they can have a greater impact. Room to Read has public charity 501(c) (3) status in the United States, so your contribution is tax-deductible.
Where can you learn more?
You can read more at their website, or read about them in Forbes (http://www.roomtoread.org/forbes_life_after.html) or any of the other articles available.
Want to know how it all went? Check our our journal >> |
