MILFORD — The Milford Elks donated dictionaries to eight students at Benjamin Banneker Elementary School last week.
The March 19 donation was a part of the Dictionary Project that was founded in 1995. It focuses on promoting literacy to young children as they go from learning to read to using what they read to find information.
The national Elks organization joined the project in 2004.
Joanne Milton, the exalted ruler of the Milford Elks Lodge No. 2401, brought the dictionaries to the school to hand out to the third graders, whose level is learning is ideal for the goals of the project.
“By promoting literacy and investing in our youth’s education through a simple gift of a dictionary, children know that the Elks believe in them and are providing them with one of the essential tools they need to strive and succeed,” said Ms. Milton.
This year, Elks across the country have provided 744,997 dictionaries to third-grade students across the nation. The project is included across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
To learn more about the project visit Elks.org/programs/dictionary.cfm.