Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Reed will return to Buffalo at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, to kick off his Read with Reed 83 Challenge at the Boys & Girls Club’s Butler-Mitchell Clubhouse at 370 Massachusetts Ave.
“My reading program called READ 83 has really taken and will support Boys & Girls Clubs in NFL cities,” Reed said. “I was a club kid who made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now I represent what they stand for and I know that through reading, every child can do the same. Reading is a way out!”
Team Read 83 is also excited to introduce this new collaboration with inner city literacy experts from iKnowABC. In partnership with the Andre Reed Foundation, Pro Athlete Community Engagement Manager Theresa Villano and Cindy Finelli Coleman, M.Ed., of Cindy and Co., have co-created the Read with Reed 83 program.
In addition, Cindy and Co. has donated their award-winning iKnowABC eBooks and app to help the youngest members of the Boys & Girls Clubs build a strong foundation for reading. Select clubs also have VIP access to iKnowABC through the membership site at www.iknowabc.com.
The goal of Reed’s program and his upcoming Boys & Girls Club visits is to encourage kids to exercise their mind, tackle a good book, catch the love of reading, understand reading is a way “out and up,” and plan to read at least 30 minutes a day.
“Reading is tied to graduation rates and, ultimately, success rates, especially in inner cities where I plan to do my literacy programming,” Reed added. “It’s my new legacy, and my commitment to kids, to make reading cool again by incorporating pro athletes and the game of football into the program.”
The nationwide Andre Reed reading rallies will kick off with the Read with Reed 83 Challenge in Buffalo, a city where #83 knows how to make a comeback! This event is sponsored by Epson, Ingram Micro and American Airlines. The program’s local MVP reader will also attend the Sept. 10 Buffalo Bills home opener as Epson, Ingram Micro and Reed’s VIP guest.
The literacy tour will then hit the road and travel to the following cities: Cleveland, Oct. 6; New York City, Nov. 2 (Jets vs. Bills); San Diego, Nov. 19 (L.A. Chargers vs. Bills); Kansas City, Nov. 25 (KC vs. Bills); and Boston, Nov. 24 (New England vs. Bills).
To support the Read with Reed initiative, you can purchase Reed’s children’s book and autobiography titled “Little Andre Reads.” And for more information on READ 83: Andre Reed’s Across America Tour supporting the Boys & Girls Club, please contact Theresa Villano, LaCorte ENT, at (716) 913-8959 or vi************@ya***.com.
About the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo’s mission is to provide a safe and stable experience that assures success is within reach of all members and that they graduate from high school with plans for their future and that they are living a healthy lifestyle. Annually serving over 3,200 children at 11 Clubhouse locations throughout the city of Buffalo and first ring suburbs, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo is a credentialed New York State child care provider for after school and summer programming for children 5 to 18 years of age. For more information, visit www.bgcbuffalo.org.
