Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina grants United Way Midlands Reading Consortium $15,000

Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina invested $15,000 in the United Way Midlands Reading Consortium to support its pilot, integration and expansion of STEM programming.

“We are grateful to Sisters of Charity for investing in our program as STEM and literacy are needed to equip South Carolina’s students with the knowledge and skills needed to enter many current and future workforces,” said Jabari Bodrick, Ph.D., Director of Education & Resiliency at United Way of the Midlands. “Our goals are to destigmatize STEM and to cultivate an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math among kindergarten through third-grade students.”

MRC is a literacy-focused program that supplements and enhances shared reading experiences to ignite a love of reading for elementary students. MRC is a partnership between United Way of the Midlands and 17 Midlands elementary schools across Richland, Lexington, Fairfield, Calhoun, and Orangeburg counties. MRC plans to implement its pilot STEM program at an MRC school in 2023.

"At the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, we are proud to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that work to reduce poverty in South Carolina,” said Donna Waites, President of Sisters of Charity Foundation of SC. “We are excited to invest in United Way’s MRC program as they pilot the STEM component, which will further support our state’s future leaders in emerging technological workforce and guide students to fruitful and empowering careers.”

During the last grant cycle, Sisters of Charity funds enabled MRC to add STEM to the MRC program design. MRC began the process of adding STEM to the program because like literacy, students are not meeting science and math milestones.

Those interested in positively impacting a child’s life can sign up to volunteer with MRC at uway.org/mrc.   

To learn more about MRC’s STEM expansion, email Jabari Bodrick at jbodrick@uway.org.