Parking and Transit Services presents check to ASU America Reads

Parking and Transit Services present ASU America Reads with funds from the 2016-17 PTS Benefactor Program. From left: Ray Humbert, PTS associate director; Deborah Ruiz, community engagement programs director; Associate Dean Nancy Perry, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; Dean Carole Basile, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College; Faith Wagner, America Reads coordinator; Melinda Alonzo, PTS director.

August 28, 2017

ASU Parking and Transit Services (PTS) presented ASU America Reads with a check for $5,439 on Aug. 18. The 2016-17 PTS Benefactor Program recipient received the check in a ceremony at the H.B. Farmer Education Building atrium.

ASU students, faculty and staff can raise money for the Benefactor Program by bidding on a Benefactor Program parking permit.

ASU America Reads student tutors, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College deans and program directors and Parking and Transit Services directors gather around the PTS Benefactor Program presentation check. PTS donated 2016-17 Benefactor Program funds to ASU America Reads on Aug. 18.
ASU America Reads student tutors listen to Faith Wagner, America Reads program coordinator, as she expresses thanks for their extraordinary work tutoring students in economically disadvantaged children in grades K–8. Parking and Transit Services donated 2016-17 PTS Benefactor Program funds to ASU America Reads on Aug. 18.

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“It is an honor to lend our support to the campus community in a way that heeds the call of the university’s design aspirations,” said Melinda Alonzo, PTS director. “We appreciate the opportunity to assist worthwhile programs with community outreach as well as foster student success.”

ASU America Reads, housed in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, is an after-school academic program for economically disadvantaged children in grades K–8. ASU America Reads hires ASU students as tutors.

“Not only does ASU America Reads benefit the community by increasing academic achievement in elementary and junior high students, but we are also giving ASU students an opportunity to serve a community need and gain real-world job skills,” said Faith Wagner, program coordinator. “We are deeply grateful to the PTS Benefactor Program. These funds will help us significantly as we continue to make a positive impact on our community.”

Benefactor Program recipients are awarded funds at the end of every fiscal year. Current donations will support next year’s recipient, the Hispanic Mother Daughter Program — a middle and high school program to increase the number of first-generation Arizonans who are qualified to attend ASU through direct family involvement.

Since 2012, PTS has donated more than $25,000 to Benefactor Program recipients. Past Benefactor Program beneficiaries include ASU’s American Dream Academy, Student Health Outreach for Wellness and the School of Art.