Colquitt County Educational Foundation

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐅 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝!

"Literacy is not just a skill. It is the foundation for everything a child will learn, earn, and become."

Will Southwell, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, joined the CCEF board because he knows firsthand how much the right foundation can shape a life. As someone who works with families every day to build their futures, Will understands that financial security and literacy go hand in hand. You cannot build a strong future without the ability to read, comprehend, and communicate.

CCEF works alongside community organizations and the school system to make sure literacy resources reach not just students, but families and the broader Colquitt County community. Because when we build readers, we build futures.
Will believes supporting CCEF is one of the most direct investments you can make in this community. Literacy shapes a child's success in school, in their career, and in life. When we give children a strong literacy foundation, we strengthen families and build a community that wins together.

"When children can read, they can dream bigger. And when they dream bigger, all of Colquitt County is better for it."

Will Southwell, Edward Jones Financial Advisor

Summer is here, and so is the perfect opportunity to keep your little reader growing!

Did you know that kids can lose months of reading progress over the summer if they are not staying engaged with books? The good news is that keeping kids reading does not have to feel like homework.

Here is one of our favorite ideas: start a neighborhood book club with other families! Grab a few neighbors, pick a book your kids love, and meet up on a blanket in the backyard or around a picnic table. It is low key, fun, and it keeps young readers connected to books all summer long.

Book clubs are a great way to keep summer learning social, and the warmer weather makes for some pretty sweet meeting spots too. It is also something you can carry right into the school year once it catches on!

Small habits like this make a big difference. The Colquitt County Educational Foundation believes every child in our community deserves a strong literacy foundation, and it starts at home. ☀️

A new study puts a number on something we see every day: children from low-income families have roughly $80,000 less invested in their development and education than their higher-income peers. The research is a reminder of how much a caring adult and strong early literacy support can matter in a child's life.

That's the heart of CCEF's mission. Through mentoring and early grade reading programs, we work to give every child in Colquitt County the encouragement, attention, and support they need to build a strong foundation, no matter their starting point. Every mentor, every reading session, and every volunteer hour is an investment in a child's future.

Together, we can help every child in our community thrive. 💚

📊 Source: Chalkbeat, "Poor children still face large resource gaps outside of school, study finds" (April 2026), chalkbeat.org

Today in Colquitt County, a baby will likely be born. Years ago, that child would have faced tough odds of reading well by third grade.

According to Georgia Milestones for the 2018-2019 academic year, only 37% of Colquitt County students were reading on or above grade level. That is not a statistic anyone wanted to accept.

The good news? We're seeing real progress. Spring 2025 Georgia Milestones data shows Colquitt County students reading on or above grade level at an average of 59%, a remarkable improvement and proof that investment in early literacy works.

Research tells us the most powerful time to change a child's reading trajectory is before they ever walk through a school door. From birth to age five, children are building the language, vocabulary, and love of stories that will carry them through a lifetime of learning.

That is exactly where CCEF is showing up.

Through our Baby Packer kits, newborns at Colquitt Regional Medical Center leave the hospital with early learning resources in hand. Through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, 1,871 children in Colquitt County receive a free book delivered to their door every single month, from birth through age five. Sixty books. Five years. One child at a time.

Here is what your support makes possible:
$20 sponsors a Baby Packer kit for a newborn
$150 sponsors five full years of books through the Imagination Library
$175 does both, a complete early literacy journey from birth to age five

You can give once, give monthly, or give annually. Every gift, at every level, goes directly toward a child in our community who needs it.

Colquitt County's progress is real, and it's being written right now, in living rooms and nurseries and little hands holding books for the first time. Be part of that story.

Learn more and give today at givebutter.com/zsaQE0