today we'll talk about an important program to help children read. this is "your union dad dell valle." we're back here on "commune dad dellval le." we talk about children learning how to read and maybe improve their reading skills. with me today are board member sonja here, past recipient of the la familia award.

and rosa atkins. she also works there at great old family services. >> literacy is at the top of the list. we'll get to you to talk about the specifics of it, but tell us why we're attacking literacy or deficiency of literacy? >> you know, grail has been amazing at really working with what is most needed in the community at that precise moment, and there's been so many studies showing how behind our children are in terms of literacy. i know that veronica, when she was here mentioned 75% of children not reading at grade level between third grade and fifth grade, and even though that's gotten better, it's still, i think, 60 something. >> 65%. >> 65% of kids not reading at their grade level when they're in third to fifth grade, which is a fundamental of that. grail has found a way to attack that a little bit earlier, and with the initiative we're

working on now, it's really working with children who are at the very beginning of literacy, which is where you get your most basic skills, and working with children in kindergarten and first grade. >> this is a time where children are sponges. they soak it all in. this is a team that to start teaching them those important habits. isn't that right? >> absolutely. there's a lot of research that shows that if children by the third grade are not able to read proficient proficiently, and they experience a lot of difficulties at a later age, and so that's what we want to prevent, and those specific statistics that sonja was mentioning are specific to the district of east san jose, so that's where we are basically targeting our efforts because we know there's a need. >> tell us about your program then. how specifically you are attacking those. >> absolutely. so our program is called the yes, can you read program, and we have three components, and the first one is a mentor program. what we could is we mobilize people from all over silicon valley to actually mentor to

kindergarten students. they spend 30 minutes one-on-one with each child for a total of one hour a week for eight to ten weeks. what they do is they actually work with the teacher who provides them some information about each of their students on activity that is help their literacy development so they will help them with alphabet recognition or a language, and those basic things that they really need to become proficient readers. and they engage them in story telling. we tell them to make storey telling fun and exciting. maybe with voices and, you know, story telling should be a beautiful part of their life. it shouldn't be something that is seen as a homework or something that's difficult. once we develop that love of reading, we hope that we can measurably increase those lit are aingy levels. >> you are attacking this problem at the core because we want our future leaders of this valley to be smart, proficient. the leaders that they should be. >> exactly. >> it starts with literacy.

>> everything that they're going to do for the rest of their life for work and in school will require that they be able to read, read effectively, proficiently, and if they can't do that very elemental skill, they can't make it through the rest of school. everything becomes difficult. you need to read even to do math. >> how big of a no brainer is nor grail? >> almost everything seems like a no brainer for grail. what can i tell you? because grail is so tightly knit with the community that we serve. from the very, very beginning when it was first a housing development, which was what was most needed at that time. right? so tightly weaved with the community that it's hard for grail to not see what's needed, but even then there's always community forums and community involvement to fine out exactly what this is what people perceive as their need. and for it to be the need. statistically be the need. then to be able to hear it also from the parents that their children are falling behind and they want to help them, and they want to be involved in some way to see those three pieces come together so you can develop a

program that does this. and it's just amazing joining because the mentor actually works -- the teacher creates a plan so that the mentor actually comes in and works with that student specifically on what that particular student needs to improve on. something that the teacher would never have time to do in a classroom of 20 to 30 kids sometimes. >> well, it's inexcusable. all it takes is ten minutes every night to read to your child. ten, 20 minutes. read a book. there's a web address for more information. grail family services. they're in the south bay, and they're improving the literacy rate. any final thoughts that you might have? >> we need mentors. >> we need 50 more mentors. that's what we really need. we need 50 more mentors so that we can actually have every single child in kindergarten classroom both at doris elementary school and -- read to them. if can you help, you get those people in here, please. have them cactus. you can access our website, and we'll be sure to send them additional information. >> all right.

thank you so much. good luck to you with the work that are you doing with our are kids. up next here on commune dad dell vale e, some tech giants also helping our kids. stay with us. ♪ [ ukulele strumming ] ♪ [ folksy whistling ] [ man ] quitting is a fight you can't let yourself lose. it can take many tries. but keep trying, you will beat smoking. honey, you okay? yeah, i'm fine. ♪ [ ukulele ]

>> an agency called full circle fund. he is also with new cycle capital. they basically make sure that -- well, you tell us. you made sure that our kids are -- have the tools they need in our community to be on the right path. >> full circle fund is community people that have a shared interest and passion in making the bay area a cleaner, better educated, more prosperous place. it's a group of people who have committed to giving not just their money and not just their time, but their skills. something their marketing people. some have technical skills or finance skills and so they're giving skills to find organizations that are really moving the needle, that are really out there helping kids

and showing a nice track record and that we take them and help them scale so we can help more people. >> when we talk about tech giants, you are the tech giants. you represent vast majority of silicon valley and -- >> yeah. a lot of our members are from tech companies. joe is on a start-up variety. some of those have become big companies like lnkd in and others. >> it's easy to open up and say take that. take it a step further. >> again, this is also -- these are really people that -- they have their own personal money, and they happen to be part of the companies that are part of the tech industry. they themselves have seen this. they're either parents themselves or just part of the community. they want help. a lot of people, you know, where do you start? right? you want to have a big impact. who is doing the most innovative work throughout the bay area. you kind of know there's lots of good things going on. be part of this group or able to all work together to figure out, okay, what's really exciting, and then help those groups scale? >> what are you doing, i guess,

is investing in the community and kind of recruiting because they're going to be the future folks at intuit at all the sin opses and all these companies that we have here in the south bay. they're going to be it. you are investing in their future. >> yeah, certainly. one of the big areas we focus on is education, and, you know, 50% of the kids in the bay area are below grade level for math and science. every company in the bay area has engineering jobs. they cannot fill those. we have a guy -- one of our companies that was, you know, make $90,000 a year in bakersfield offer $200,000 to come to a tech company. people cannot fill these jobs. and so we have to make sure that we are preparing the kids in this community to take those jobs in the future. >> we have a time limit on our show, so i'll go long with you today. you have started something called microbranch, and you are helping them out. tell us about that. >> sure. it's self-help, which is federal credit union to start pineeering a microbranch right here in san

jose. why is it need snd there are 100 million americans who don't have access and hard-working americans, many living paycheck to paycheck. they don't have check, safings, credit. some are check cashers, and some are pushed even further to the fringe to payday learned, rent to own, less reputable check cashers and pawn shops until they get in a destructive debt cycle, and they can't get the credit history or saving that they do need to get ahead. >> looks like a check casher and it feels comfortable, and actually it's all the services that they need to get them into the system. they can start developing that savings history, that credit history, and take advantage of economic opportunity i understand penicillin. >> not only children, but their families and their parents is what you are helping. tell us about the -- there's another program called tech soup, which i guess it uses refurbished computers for nonprofits. >> yeah. we help these guys develop business plans that say, a lot of nonprofits need technology, and it's sort of expensive.

a lot of corporatings are flipping over technology very frequently. let's take those authorized take that technology, fix it up, and then sell it at deeply discounted prices to nonprofits, and we helped to develop a businessman where tech soup, and now they're helping lots of nonprofits get stuff at deep discounts. it's a $30 million, $40 million business for them as a nonprofit. it's a real revenue stream for them. >> you talk about this, but tell us about why all of this is important to the full circle fund. >> again, the issues we care about education, the environment, economic opportunity. it's really finding the programs that are working. can i give you one other example? >> you have la cucina that's helping low income women start businesses. food businesses. yummy businesses. these are rest restaurants, food trucks, catering businesses, and this is a business that each woman can start. there's one called -- i spent about six months in el salvador

in the early 1990s and remembered the takes of the food there, and this is a woman whose father and grandfathers were bakers and she wanted to share this with others. now her prunlts products are in whole foods. she has a catering company, and these are businesses that la is thises cucina has helped to start. >> you are able to put -- >> i plove. >> it's an important endeavor, and it's led by tech jinlt here in the silicone valley, but they're helping those who do need the help. any final thoughts, josh, before we let you go? >> no. just thanks to your audience and if people have ideas that are working, go to oub website fullcirclefund.org and what's working in your community, and what do you think is a program that can use help scaling and let us know. >> they have deep pockets, but they also are the heart to help. log to the website and find out maybe how you can help them or how they can help you. thank you for the work that are you doing. come back any time, and give us an update, if you will. >> excellent. >> thank you.

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about three years ago with that icon, her name is delores. she is the cow founder of the united farm workers. >> a lot of us are fortunate to have 9:00 to 5:00 jobs. a lot of people keep it at 9:00 to 5:00. the volunteerism is not there. they go home, and be it what they may, with their families, but this community needs the help of volunteers. how vital is volunteerism? >> well, it is everything because we know in today's world people do work really hard and sometimes people have to work two jobs just to see their families, but we can take just a few hours a week, maybe it's two hours, maybe it's four hours, maybe a day to do volunteer work, but right now in our community we're organizing. we have, of course, all these very poor farm workers who work very long hours, but we're doing a big postcard campaign on our particular congressman.

it's another one of those blue dogs, right? it's called the yellow dog. it's not supporting the public auction and the health care plan. we're doing a big postcard campaign. we're going to get a couple of thousand postcard. we're already up to 1,000. we'll have a press conference and deliver them to his office. he was doing a fundraiser the other night at the petroleum club. we had ray wonderful picket line. okay? for our congressman. these folks work many long hours they showed up for the picket line, and they're doing the work we need to do the postcard campaign. >> you have been using that phrase for how many decades? picket line. does it ever -- do you ever go home exhausted thinking i can't do this anymore? does it even ever not across your mind? >> it gives me a lot of energy, you know? when you are out there shouting and marching and you get a lot of energy because when the work itself la lucca, the struggle gives you the energy that you need, so instead of making you tired, it gives you a lot more energy to keep on wanting to do something, and especially when you accomplish your goals. you know, we did it.

you know? it really makes -- >> you talk about the dell or's foundation. what's the emphasis of your foundation? what do you want? >> what we do is raise money, and then we hire organizers and then we train them, and we send them into a community, and they meet in people's homes. if i say the word it upper ware, you know what i mean? then we meet with them in their homes. our message to the families is that you've got to take responsibility. you are the only ones that didn't do anything in your community. you know? you have -- we have rights and responsibilities too. you've got to come together, learn how to work together, and then take action. our people have done incredible things. one of our committees, they passed a bond issue to build a new gymnasium at their middle school for the kids. you know, they're in basic -- it's very, very hot. the kids have no place to play. just outside. we were also able to give two swimming pools built for the children. they had no swimming pool at all. we're target a microlending program. it will be the first program in the valley, and we've gotten 12

streets now. they have side walks and pavement that they didn't have. i can keep going on and on. we break it down into neighborhoods, and every neighborhood there's an assessment, and what is it they need in their neighborhood, and then they go out there and do it. we passed another tax increase, and one of our other small communities so that they could help the firemen and the police and also to deliver the youth. all of the projects are about volunteers. we only have one organizer and their job is to organize a community to go out there and fight their issues. >> there is a center that will be named after you. >> what it is, it's a labor studies program that is throughout the state of california. unfortunately, in our educational system, students are never taught about the contributions of working people. they don't know about, you know, the miners or the laborers, and most of us are working and come from working families, but

students are never taught what their parents did or ethnic, you know, what latinos did or asians or filipinos or people of color, what they did to contribute to this country. so the labor studies program, at the community college level, will be to teach community college students about the contributions of the labor mooumt. you know, without labor we wouldn't have an appointment insurance. we wouldn't have social security. we wouldn't have safety standards, workers compensation. family leave. we wouldn't even have public education. you know, that's now in the process of being destroyed, right? none of this would exist today if it were not for the labor movement. the labor studies is run out of the community, college districts, and it's all over the state of california. i think there's about nine or ten community colleges that now have this. i personally am not responsible for any of it. they just have my name. that's -- >> there's a reason your name is -- will be on that wall, because of your accomplishments and what an honor for them to be

able to be able to do that, and, you know, in your name. congratulations for that. i have seen you in so many speaking engagements. is there anything that surprises you from those engagements from the audience? any reaction from them at all? >> i think odd yens are really doing things that a lot of times people want to help or they want to volunteer, but they don't know what they can do. i think that that is one of the things that's anies misting is that people don't -- they would like to do something. we have a lot of different issues. we have the environmental issues. the peace movement. we always have some labor strike smoor labor dispute going, and, of course, the stuff that's going on at the national level like the national health care debate. i think people do want to get involved, and a lot of times they just don't know how, and i know that if you are in san jose, they do have community organizations. i think that's part of the construction, so at least in many percent peblgtives --

>> that was delores about three years ago talking about her foundation and the united farm workers. up next here, the voice of the -- stay tuned. [ mom ] hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. grands! and gravy. man, it's butter all the way.g? uncle ray, gravy or butter? definitely butter. boom! or gravy. ham. turkey. or nothing. as long as it's grands!, i'm good. [ female announcer ] grands! holiday ideas made easy. [people chatting] everyone, it's $37 a piece. paying with your smart phone instead of cash. that's a step forward. with chase person-to-person quickpay, you can send money directly to your friend's checking account.

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for those celebrating a specl day on commune dad dell valle. ♪ >> here is our address for next week's salute. pick up a copy and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bare area. we thank you for sharing your sunday with us one more time. we leave you now with the voices of latin rock once again. ♪

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involved. one in ten of our neighbors -- join holly and help feed families this holiday season. this is the second harvest website and make a donation today. ng on airplanes. the first to have smoke-free bars and restaurants. all while saving over $86 billion in health care costs... and over a million lives. we've done a good job. but even if you were born today, you'd still grow up in a world where tobacco kills more people... than aids, drugs, alcohol, murder and car crashes... combined. we have a lot more work to do.