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Maryann Moore (right) of the Greater Hazleton Health Alliance reads to Mrs. Scatton’s (seated left) first grade class at Heights Elementary Middle School during Community Reading Day coordinated by the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce.

Community Reading Day was held in the Greater Hazleton Area, Wednesday, April 25th, and scores of local volunteers joined their counterparts from throughout the entire region in a community partnership designed to promote literacy in the area. The Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce coordinated the event locally and was sponsored by Bank of America.

More than five dozen volunteers from all walks of life in the Hazleton Area spent upwards of 30 minutes and more reading to first and second grade students in schools throughout the region and the Chamber wishes to thank not only those individual readers, but the many businesses who allowed their employees to spend part of their morning reading to the children in schools in the Hazleton Area School District, Parochial School system, and Head Start programs.

Elementary schools which took part include Arthur St, Drums, Freeland, Hazleton, Heights-Terrace, McAdoo/Kelayres, Valley, and West Hazleton which are from the Hazleton Area School District; Holy Family Academy, McAdoo Catholic, from the Parochial School System, and the Luzerne County Head Start program.

In addition to the local schools, facilities throughout the Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wayne counties also participated in the region-wide event.

Local business who participated with volunteer readers included: APO2 Medical Inc., ARC Electric, Bank of America, Beauty Flower Poem, CAN DO, Inc., Cargill Meat Solutions, Citizen’s Bank, Faberge’ Follies, Fritzingertown Sr. Living Community, GBM, General Mills, George Hayden Inc., Gillespie Miscavige Ferdinand & Baranko, Greater Hazleton Health Alliance-Hazleton General Hospital, Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, Haworth Press, Hazleton Area Public Library, Hazleton Imaging, Hazleton Oil & Environmental, Hi-Tech Home Care/HGH, Integral Investment Group, Keystone Job Corps Center, Lackawanna College, Life Expressions Chiropractic, Local News 13, Metallo's Formal Wear, Michael’s Taxi, Miller Keystone Blood Center, NE PT Associates, Network Solutions, Onsite Portable Toilets, PNC Bank, Slusser Brothers, St. Luke Village, Standard-Speaker, Trinity Nursery & Kindergarten, Workforce Resources, WYLN TV, and the YM/YWCA of Hazleton.

Deborah Pavuk, Chamber administrative assistant and coordinator for the program states, “We are extremely grateful to these chamber member companies who allow their employees to take time out of their normal workday to read to these young students and stress the importance of literacy.  It is also a great opportunity for our readers to talk to the students about the type of businesses we have in Greater Hazleton and how they, too, can someday work in one of our many fine business facilities.”

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