Wardell Stephen Curry II is an American NBA pro for the San Francisco Golden State Warriors. His wife, Ayesha Disa Curry, is a Canadian-American actress, author, and tv personality. Together they affectionally team to form the moniker, The Currys. As The Currys, they are a dynamic duo and force for good, much like within the founding of their Eat. Learn. Play Foundation. In collaboration with their Foundation, they are expanding their efforts into additionally engaging to overcome the low literacy rates of the youth in Oakland, California.
The mission behind The Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation is the commitment to unlocking the amazing potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active. Their foundation has learned of statistics, saying that 1 out of 3 children typically show grade-level reading skills by the end of their 3rd-grade year. However, there was a shocking revelation in Oakland, probably incited by the increase of virtual learning, that nearly 15.4% of black and 12.5% of Latin x elementary students are showing the ability to read at grade level. The Currys aim to positively combat these rates by unveiling little book nooks called Little Town Libraries across the Bay Area.
The Oakland Literacy Coalition is one of the local community partners assisting the Foundation in selecting the locations for the Little Town Libraries. The first one has been erected at Franklin Elementary. “From kindergarten through third grade, making sure you are reading at your grade level by the time you get to third grade determines your educational future. So for us, turning those numbers around is really important,” says Ayesha Curry.
The Currys and their Foundation previously visited Franklin Elementary as they collaborated on renovating their basketball court and garden and assisted with providing artwork murals for the new areas. “Being back here in person adds a little more energy. And bringing these Little Town Libraries here hopefully reflects our commitment to Oakland and our commitment to the next generation of kids. We aim to continue to find ways to impact them and give them the proper resources and fun. That’s what it’s about,” says Stephen Curry.
The libraries will serve as new homes for a diversified multitude of stories. Each one will be curated toward encouraging the students to practice the implementation of self-reflection and form their own identities while simultaneously nurturing a positive culture of maintaining literary habits. After all, the goal of this project is to make reading both fun and accessible. Providing these installations can make a significant positive impact surrounding the youth that needs it the most. “These boxes can hopefully create the access to literacy resources and service these kids in a fun and accessible way. 150 of these are going to go around Oakland. That means 30,000 books at the hands of kids that need the inspiration, the tools to develop at the right ages, and hopefully bring an amazing experience of fun to reading, which is what it’s all about,” adds Stephen.
You can learn more in support of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation by visiting here at EATLEARNPLAY.ORG.
