Reading Is Fundamental and US Airways’ “Fly with US. Read with Kids.®” Campaign Cleared for Takeoff

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s oldest children’s literacy organization, and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) announced they have teamed up to kick off the third year of “Fly with US. Read with Kids.®,” a program designed to demonstrate the importance of reading with young children. A key component of the program will include the Read with Kids Challenge, where participants can log the amount of minutes they spend reading to children. The nationwide goal is to achieve 10 million minutes between September 1 and October 31. Readers can register to participate and log the number of minutes they read to children on an ongoing basis at www.rif.org/readwithkids.

“Each year, RIF sets a high goal to achieve during the Read with Kids Challenge, and I’m excited to see our nation strive to reach 10 million minutes of reading with children this year.”

“Reading, much like flying, takes you on journeys to new places and helps you discover new worlds. By partnering with RIF, US Airways is honored to help children in the communities where our employees live and work discover the joy of reading and provide them with a better foundation for academic and economic success. Because of our past successful Read with Kids Challenges, we’ve increased our goal, but I know we can reach it by working together,” said Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of US Airways.

Since the partnership first launched in 2008, US Airways and RIF have helped log a combined total of 14 million minutes read with children as part of the Read with Kids Challenge.

RIF encourages children to experience reading as a fun daily activity to help foster early childhood literacy development. The launch of this year’s RIF-US Airways partnership coincides with the beginning of the new school year and is a timely reminder that September is National Literacy Month. The Read with Kids Challenge helps promote recreational reading habits that prepare students to achieve more in school and life.

"Motivating children to read at an early age is critical to developing successful students, and RIF is pleased to partner with US Airways to get more communities reading,” said Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. "Each year, RIF sets a high goal to achieve during the Read with Kids Challenge, and I’m excited to see our nation strive to reach 10 million minutes of reading with children this year."

As part of the Read with Kids Challenge, participants will be entered to win a grand prize drawing of a Walt Disney World® Resort vacation package from US Airways Vacations, US Airways gift cards, and other weekly giveaways. US Airways, the official airline of RIF, will also reward individuals who join them in supporting RIF. For gifts of $50 or more made through the campaign, US Airways will award the donor up to 5,000 Dividend Miles. Donors can also receive Maisy Takes a Trip, a special edition book by best-selling author Lucy Cousins, with a donation of at least $25. To sign up for the challenge or to make a donation, visit www.rif.org/readwithkids. More information will be available on Twitter via @RIFWEB or @USAirways, or RIF’s Facebook fan page.

Throughout the duration of the campaign, RIF and US Airways will host reading celebrations in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, and Phoenix. The events will feature a RIF book distribution where children get to choose a book for their own home libraries, family-friendly activities, and read-alouds where US Airways employees will interact with students and families.

About US Airways

US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates more than 3,200 flights per day and serves more than 200 communities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America. The airline employs more than 31,000 aviation professionals worldwide and is a member of the Star Alliance network, which offers its customers more than 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries. Together with its US Airways Express partners, the airline serves approximately 80 million passengers each year and operates hubs in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Phoenix, and a focus city in Washington, D.C. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. And for the eleventh consecutive year, the airline received a Diamond Award for maintenance training excellence from the Federal Aviation Administration for its Charlotte hub line maintenance facility. For more company information, visit usairways.com. (LCCG)

About RIF

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF), founded in 1966, motivates children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources last year. For more information and to access reading resources, visit RIF’s website at www.rif.org.

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