Read With Me needs more volunteers to help eastern Coachella Valley kids

Read With Me is looking for more volunteers to serve East Coachella Valley schools. The nonprofit, which helps children develop their reading and English skills, wants at least 37 new readers to help kids at eastern valley schools that are harder to get to than others. 

The program, which has been in existence since 2004, currently has 501 volunteers serving 17 schools across the valley. Still, they are having trouble finding volunteers to read with East Valley kids, citing distance as a consistent issue.

“We have enough volunteers there. It's the Coachella Valley Unified School District, the ones that are the furthest south and east that we have a challenge," said Roberta Klein, the founder of Read With Me.

The schools that are in need of volunteers the most include: Sea View Elementary in Salton City, Oasis Elementary in Thermal, Mecca Elementary in Mecca and Mountain Vista in Indio. To alleviate transportation issues, the program provides three buses from Palm Desert and one from La Quinta.

CVUSD representatives say that Read With Me is a necessary program for kids who are in need of extra help with building their English and reading skills.

“Many of our students may be at their schools and it's the only way that they learn about reading and comprehension because their parents are not bilingual, or they just don't know the English language. These volunteers help us and assist with improving their reading and comprehension skills," Lissette Santiago, CVUSD Public Information Officer.

School representatives also say that kids apart of the program appreciate the volunteers who make the trip.

“The students see that these people that don't live in their communities are driving long distances to get to them. So that's very, I would say heart warming for the students," said Lissette Santiago, CVUSD Public Information Officer.

If you would like to volunteer with Read With Me, click here.