Chamber event to promote reading, exercise

The East Meadow Chamber of Commerce will host an inaugural fundraiser at Eisenhower Park next month to encourage reading and exercise among local community members while benefiting an educational program hosted by the Nassau University Medical Center.

The “Walk, Ride, Read for Success” event will support Reach Out and Read, a national program the NUMC participates in that encourages reading to children as early as 6 months of age.

The May 18 fundraiser, which will take place between 1 and 4 p.m. in Eisenhower Park’s Field 1, allows participants to walk or ride a bike around the park’s three-mile paved circuit (no motorized conveyances other than wheelchairs will be allowed). There will be educational and fun stops along the way, according to the Chamber. The cost is $20 for adults, and $7 for children 12 and under. Every participant will receive an event T-shirt.

“Chamber members want to make all of our community’s citizens successful in life,” said Chamber President Stephen Haller. “What better place to start than with our kids? And what better partners in helping this NUMC’s Reach Out and Read program get off the ground than our neighbors?”

Reach Out and Read involves doctors educating young children and parents about early literacy, early learning, development and school readiness. According to its website, the first five years of life offer a critical window to learning, with rapid brain development that does not occur at any other time. Children who begin their school years without basic language skills start behind and often stay behind their classmates, the program alleges.

“At NUMC, we serve over several thousand children under the age of six,” said Dr. Dina Joy Lieser, NUMC’s director of Community Pediatrics. “We have found that many of the families we serve do not have books at home, and are excited to learn that reading to babies is an important and effective strategy to give their children an opportunity for a bright, successful and healthy future.”

Entry forms and details about the event will be available from all East Meadow Chamber of Commerce businesses, at East Meadow schools and on the Chamber of Commerce web site: www.eastmeadow

chamber.com.