J3 Foundation: Reconnecting with the Community
More than 4,000 Angelenos stroll through Pick Pico’s Street Fair on a sunny spring Sunday.
After a two-year hiatus, Pick Pico is back and J3 Foundation has joined in the community fun.
Jazz music and Crystal Starr’s soulful voice fill the air as the grounds bustle with local artists, organizations, and restaurants tempting with delicious whiffs of pizza and pastry sweets. There are dogs and cats to adopt, and even a walk-in tent filled with butterflies.
In a cozy corner under J3’s shady tent, face-painted kids gather on a rug for story time. Volunteers read books from J3’s Cozy Reading Club – the nonprofit’s free literacy program for kids in underserved neighborhoods only a few miles away.
As booth visitors spin the wheel for prizes and the kids dig into the candy bowl, Bobbie Boggs (J3’s Director of Operations) chats with locals about their mission to combat childhood illiteracy.
52% of fourth graders are reading below grade-level in Los Angeles. Kids from low-income neighborhoods are struggling the most due to educational inequalities, made worse since the pandemic.
These are the kids that J3 serves, and many locals are asking how they can help.
The J3 staff tells them that just down the street, Westwood Charter Elementary has partnered with J3 as a “sister school.” Through fundraisers and book drives, students from high-resource schools like WWC help get books into the hands of other kids less fortunate than them.
That’s the power of uniting the community, and what J3 and Pick Pico are all about.
J3 Foundation
Donate now!
www.j3foundationla.org
(310) 924-2422
Director of Operations: Bobbie Boggs-Miller
Matching Funds — $1,500 Funds a Young Reader
One of the reasons J3 Foundation has been so effective is that it’s stayed laser focused on what it does best: teaching kids to read. The Cozy Reading Club anticipates serving 700+ students this year and J3 hopes to double that number by attracting more private donations. Creating a new reader who will grow up to be a positive contributor to society costs the organization just $1,500 annually.
“I think it’s the best $1,500 we as a society could ever invest,” says Joe Blackstone, J3 Foundation co-founder. “And that number will go down as we get more students.”
Glaser Weil will match every dollar raised, up to $10,000.
Mission
To equip 4th grade scholars with the skills, habits, confidence, and book access they need for a lifetime of reading success
Begin to Build a Relationship
We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s director of development and/or Executive Director.
I appreciate J3 for the organization’s commitment to doing everything possible when it comes to reading proficiency. It’s rewarding to see your dollars make an impact immediately. J3 Foundation is so well run that I don’t have to think twice about the actual support that’s being implemented. The rate they’re scaling is just amazing. J3 sees every child’s potential and never gives up on its mission.
Key Supporters
LA Lakers Youth Foundation
Warner Bros-Discovery: BOLD
CTBC Bank Corporation
Glaser Weil LLP
Armanino LLP
TASCHEN Books
Barry Family Foundation
Joel & Sherry McKuin
Humberto & Maria Gray
The Book Foundation
Ocean Direct
Jeffrey & Nicole Westheimer
Bob & Karina Matuszak