Each Left Coast Crime Convention raises money to support
a local literacy organization with funds raised through
silent and live auctions.
The 2024 beneficiary is Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program which works to close the literacy opportunity gap that too often leaves children in communities of concentrated low income behind. Having access to books as a child is the foremost predictor of future academic advancement, even controlling for parental income and education level. Literacy can help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, which affects families of color disproportionately. Books are some of the most important tools we have in the fight for economic equity and racial justice. Page Ahead serves Head Start and ECEAP preschool programs and elementary schools (typically kindergarten through second grade) in Washington state where 65% or more of their students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. By giving young students furthest from educational opportunity access to books and reading resources, Page Ahead works to close the literacy gap before it forms. |
