Volunteers read to more than 500 students at Perkerson Elementary School on Friday and gave each of them five books to take home as part of a program to combat childhood illiteracy.

The reading initiative was designed to reach children in low-income areas because students who read below grade level in fourth grade are much more likely to become high school dropouts.

The event was sponsored by professional services and accounting firm KPMG, which is hosting similar “reading relay” programs across the country.

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