Mayor Scanlon's Reading All Stars
On June 11, 2025, Project Flight participated with mayor Christopher Scanlon, in partnership with the City of Buffalo department of Community services and Recreational Programming and the Police Athletic League of Buffalo, in “Mayor Scanlon’s Reading All Stars”, a new year-round citywide initiative designed to encourage children to read and learn, well beyond the classroom.
Project Flight’s “Books for Kids “program has been a long-term supporter of the Police Athletic League and the Mayor’s office literacy program since 1998. The support for this program started 27 years ago when Project Flight helped them establish a literacy program that has seen thousands of children become readers in the Buffalo community. Because of Project Flight’s “Books for Kids” program and its partners like the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, the Buffalo News, Channel 2, Wegmans, Townsquare Media, and Buffalo State University, the number of readers has been growing, and we can continue to help those who need us most.
If you look at Buffalo, more than a quarter of the children live in poverty, with very little ability to have access to books or reading materials. No one is born able to read, it is a learned skill but without proper education and most importantly books or reading materials this does not happen. Research shows that children who don't learn to read by the end of third grade are likely to remain poor readers for the rest of their lives, and they're likely to fall behind in other academic areas, too.
While poverty and social economic status may define a person’s past and present the placement of a book and literacy can have the ability to change their future and perhaps the world.
Project Flight’s “Books for Kids “program has been a long-term supporter of the Police Athletic League and the Mayor’s office literacy program since 1998. The support for this program started 27 years ago when Project Flight helped them establish a literacy program that has seen thousands of children become readers in the Buffalo community. Because of Project Flight’s “Books for Kids” program and its partners like the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, the Buffalo News, Channel 2, Wegmans, Townsquare Media, and Buffalo State University, the number of readers has been growing, and we can continue to help those who need us most.
If you look at Buffalo, more than a quarter of the children live in poverty, with very little ability to have access to books or reading materials. No one is born able to read, it is a learned skill but without proper education and most importantly books or reading materials this does not happen. Research shows that children who don't learn to read by the end of third grade are likely to remain poor readers for the rest of their lives, and they're likely to fall behind in other academic areas, too.
While poverty and social economic status may define a person’s past and present the placement of a book and literacy can have the ability to change their future and perhaps the world.
To date, there have been 112,900 books worth well over $1.1million dollars donated for the mayor’s program. Project Flight and its partners are honored to be a part of the Mayor’s Reading Literacy Initiative. The mayor’s Reading program exemplifies everything that is important to help children become the heroes of their own lives.
“In 2025, Project Flight and its partners have provided 3,601 books to kick off this year’s Mayor’s Literacy Initiative.”
“In 2025, Project Flight and its partners have provided 3,601 books to kick off this year’s Mayor’s Literacy Initiative.”
