(Biddeford, ME)  – Barbara Bush announced on June 10, 2010 that The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy’s Maine Family Literacy Initiative (MEFLI) has awarded a total of $380,000 to 22 communities in Maine.  Maine Family Literacy Initiative funds are used to support parents and children as they improve their reading, writing and comprehension and share the bond that reading together creates. At a special ceremony today at the J. Richard Martin Community Center in Biddeford, ME, representatives from each program accepted their grant awards from Mrs. Bush.  Mrs. Bush was joined by First Lady Karen Baldacci, a long time literacy advocate in Maine, at the celebration.

“The abilities to read, write and comprehend empower people to create brighter and more prosperous futures for themselves, their families and their communities,” said Mrs. Bush.  "The Foundation thinks it is important this year in hard times to volunteer more, give more money, and use our resources to support family literacy programs."

Nine family literacy grants -- 8 at $25,000 each and one at $15,000 – have been awarded this year on a competitive basis from applications submitted by libraries, adult education programs, and public schools across the state. An additional 8 planning grants of $5,000 each will help communities develop the partnerships and resources needed to implement a family literacy program. 

Five “Lighthouse Grants” of $25,000 each have also been awarded.  Recipients are well-established, model family literacy programs with significant outreach activities to support the promotion and expansion of family literacy services in Maine. Awardees are selected based on their ability to demonstrate experience and success in providing family literacy programming, the creativity of their outreach activities, and the diversity of their partnerships and target audiences.

Since 1996, The Maine Family Literacy Initiative has awarded 226 grants totaling $3,957,090. To learn more, visit www.mainefamilyliteracy.com 

Founded by Barbara Bush in 1989, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy supports the development and expansion of family literacy programs -- in settings where parents and children read and learn together -- across the United States.  Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to nonprofit organizations, correctional institutions, homeless shelters, schools and school districts, libraries and community- and faith-based agencies.  As of April 2010, the Foundation had awarded over $36 million to 837 family literacy programs in 50 states including the nation's capital. In addition to its national program, the Foundation supports the work of statewide initiatives in Maine, Texas, Maryland and Florida. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is a fund of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region in Washington, DC. To learn more, visit www.barbarabushfoundation.com.