Our special offering this Sunday is for Reading is Fundamental (RIF), an organization dedicated to motivating children to read by with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.  Trinity’s United Methodist Women group has been making RIF happen at Ridgetop Elementary for years, and Trinity is committed to supporting them in this endeavor.

As you know from last week’s post, funding for RIF was not included in our nation’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget.  On July 27, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee approved $24.8 million in funding for RIF for FY2011! Recently, the House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee also approved $24.8 million for RIF.  While this is a step forward, the bills must still be approved by the full Appropriations Committees in the coming weeks.

Please take a moment to contact your congressional representatives to let them know how you feel about RIF.  To find a list,  go to Bookspring and enter your zip code.  You have the option to either send representatives an email from the website or obtain their contact information and write them a letter.