Following last month’s $2,496.00 donation from the Mama Cats to Reading Buddies, Inc., the James R. Johnson foundation has made a $4,504.00 donation, to round out the organization’s fundraising results to $7,000.00 so far.
“We are thrilled to be the recipients of the Johnson foundation’s generosity,” said Deb Townsend, founder of Reading Buddies, Inc.
“James Johnson wanted to invest in the betterment of Eagle Grove’s youth and seniors,” said Richard Cahalan, a retired English teacher who manages the James R. Johnson Foundation his friend endowed, prior to his passing, after presenting the check on behalf of the foundation. “This program really works with both education and mental health,” Cahalan noted. “The willingness of children to play and imagine really lets them soar!”
“Up to this point I have never had any financial assistance from anyone,” Deb said last month after receiving the Mama Cats donation, noting that she has previously gotten a lot of assistance in donated supplies and volunteer labor. But monetarily, “this has all come from our personal finances.”
The donations mean “we can get all the cute fabric and the good patches,” Townsend said in March, explaining that quality fabric and patches can get costly. “And this means we can continue the program for the kids.”
Reading Buddies, Inc. provides custom made, hand sewn teddy bears – most made by Townsend herself – to first and second grade students; as well as a complimentary curriculum to their teachers developed by EGHS alumnus Deb Townsend, a retired art teacher,
“We do about 300 (bears) a year,” said Townsend. “The kids, their reading improves.”
