If you are reading this article and you are not older than 11, ask a relative or friend to donate some money in aid of children who would not be able to read the same article without an assistive device.
You would be joining hundreds of primary school children who are taking part in a national reading marathon that has collected €250,000 in two years.
The Malta Trust Foundation has invested the collected funds in custom-made assistive devices for more than 120 children who are visually impaired or are on the autism spectrum and are non-verbal.
About €15,000 of the total amount was collected by students from their relatives or family friends for every book they read.
The rest was raised through the foundation’s corporate partner Remax and Friends, and other members of the business community.
The third edition of the national readathon was launched last week as the world marked the United Nation’s International Day of Education. The National Literacy Agency will be handing out a flyer to students on which they can mark which books they read and how much money they have collected.
Readathon will foster a greater sense of altruism
The agency’s CEO, David Muscat, believes the readathon would not only help foster a greater love for reading but also a sense of altruism: participants will be helping their peers to also be able to read more of their favourite books.
Former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who chairs the foundation, said the project ensures that young children have an equal chance to be empowered, encouraged and educated.
Providing children and young people with a dignified life is part of the ethos of the foundation, for which the readathon is not a one-off event.
Those interested in this initiative, or others that are run by the Malta Trust Foundation, can get in touch on info@maltatrustfoundation.org or look up the Facebook page The Malta Trust Foundation.
The readathon is being organised by the Malta Trust Foundation in collaboration with the National Literacy Agency, the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility, Autism Parents’ Association, Association of Speech and Language Pathologists, the NGO Advice, the Education Department and the business community through their corporate social responsibility initiatives.