BRIDGTON — “If it were not for Team Long Run and their generous donors, the majority of my students would never get to know what it’s like to have books to read at home with their families.”
The words of a local principal are staggering and point out a sometimes overlooked, but crucial, issue confronting many communities across Maine and the nation.
Enter Team Long Run. Based in Bridgton, the non-profit organization uses reading and active play to offer children in Maine’s rural communities a brighter future. The group’s early reading programs are designed to help young children catch up by the time they reach kindergarten and then keep them reading at grade-appropriate levels throughout their academic careers. At the same time, Team Long Run has also developed a number of in-school and after-school active play programs that have been implemented with great success.
To date, Team Long Run has aided early literacy and active play in 14 Head Start programs in Oxford and Franklin counties as well as five Title 1 elementary schools, delivering over 17,000 books in the process.
“We’re the only nonprofit we know of to merge active play with reading, resulting in a readiness to learn. We collaborate and work exclusively with over 2,000 students each year,” said Hilary Harper-Wilcoxen, who is the executive director of Team Long Run. “All of the programs are free to the kids and have been developed over time to be easily shared and extremely cost-effective.”
Norway Savings Bank has been inspired to financially support Team Long Run for over seven years, including a $2,000 contribution this month.
“Norway Savings Bank is such a force for good in our communities. All children deserve to be able to develop as readers and learners early on, and we love to have NSB’s support in that work,” Harper-Wilcoxen said. “It enriches hundreds of children in high-poverty, low-literacy homes.”
“Our early literacy programs serve underserved kids from newborns to 11-year-olds in rural Maine. In many homes, reading at home is a rarity and early illiteracy is the norm,” said Chuck Wilcoxen, mission director of Team Long Run.
“You see nothing but smiling faces and sometimes students literally jump with joy when they find out they get to take the book home,” Harper-Wilcoxen said.
Through the materials, themes, and collaboration, the organization is successfully getting students what they need to catch up, keep up, and thrive in the “long run.”
“Every child deserves a chance to succeed, and Team Long Run is doing what it can to make that happen with sensitivity and creativity,” said Dan Walsh, president and CEO of Norway Savings Bank. “Their tireless efforts have made a huge difference in helping those who need it most, and we are grateful for their passion and purpose.”
For more information about Team Long Run, including ways you can help, visit www.teamlongrun.org.
