Dollar General Literacy Foundation Awards More Than $3 Million To Support Youth Education
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF) announced plans to award more than $3 million in grants to support more than 420,000 students attending nearly 800 schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations in the communities Dollar General calls home. These funds aim to narrow the gap between learners’ needs and programs’ financial resources by providing books, technology, equipment or materials to youth education programs. A complete list of recipients can be found here.
“The Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s work to help individuals pursue their dreams and educational goals stands at the forefront of the Foundation’s philanthropic passions, and we are proud to extend our ongoing commitment to support youth education through today’s grant announcement,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer and Dollar General Literacy Foundation chairman. “We understand the challenges educators and literacy programs may face and are proud to invest in local literacy and education initiatives to further demonstrate our mission of Serving Others.”
The DGLF awards grants each year to literacy organizations located within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center as part of its ongoing commitment to improve individuals’ lives through literacy and education. Applications for the 2023 Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant cycle supporting youth, family, summer and adult literacy programs will be available here in January 2023.
“During this back-to-school season, we are grateful for all of the educators, school officials, librarians, non-profit partners and volunteers who are working hard to help students excel and creating brighter futures for this generation of learners,” said Denine Torr, Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s executive director. “We hope these funds will help provide needed resources, enhance educational programming and position teachers and students for success.”
These most recent youth literacy grants add to the Foundation’s $9.2 million awarded this spring to support adult, family and summer literacy programs. Founded in 1993, to date the DGLF has awarded more than $219 million to support nearly 16.1 million individuals improve their lives through literacy and education. The Foundation was founded by DG’s former CEO Cal Turner, Jr. in honor of his grandfather and DG co-founder, J.L. Turner, who was functionally illiterate.