Read To Succeed Awarded $50,000 From Garman Family Foundation

Funding will support the ongoing implementation of high impact tutoring in Buffalo and Niagara Falls City Schools

Read to Succeed (RTS) announced today that the organization has been awarded $50,000 from the Garman Family Foundation, administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. The funding will support the ongoing implementation of the AARP Experience Corps Volunteer Program in Buffalo Public and Niagara Falls City Schools.

Read to Succeed’s Experience Corps is an intergenerational, tutoring/mentoring program of the AARP Foundation, harnessing the social capital of older adults ages 50+ by training and deploying them to tutor/mentor 1st-3rd-grade students who are below grade level in reading, utilizing an evidence-based, structured session model.

Experience Corps tutor/mentors meet individually with each student two-three times per week for 30 minutes per session, every week of the school year. Sessions are very structured and focus on building fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills in students in 1st-3rd-grade.

“Through data-driven reading practice, our literacy coaches and tutor/mentors empower students with the skills needed to meet grade-level benchmarks,” stated Read to Succeed Executive Director Anne Ryan. “The basic reading and social skills that students learn from their one-on-one sessions with a trained adult set them on a path for continued academic growth and success.

Since 2016, RTS has been recruiting and training older adults as literacy tutor/mentors in the Buffalo Public Schools. In the 2025-26 school year, RTS expanded this proven, high-impact tutoring program to students in Niagara Falls City Schools.

“We are extremely grateful to the Garman Family Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo; their continued support allows us to expand and enhance our services to those who need it most,” continued Ryan.