Actor
LeVar Burton launched a “Reading Rainbow” Kickstarter campaign and reached the fundraising goal of $1 million in just one day as donations poured in to help put the popular show’s materials on the Web and make them available for free to classrooms.
Burton launched the campaign Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon, more than $1.9 million in donations had poured in.
The Kickstarter campaign was designed to “bring Reading Rainbow’s unlimited library of interactive books and video field trips to kids everywhere & help classrooms most in need!”
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
“Reading Rainbow” started as a television show in 1983 that encouraged kids to read. It ended in 2006, but in 2012 Burton launched a “Reading Rainbow” app for tablets.
The fundraising dollars will be used to make “Reading Rainbow” books and information more widely available, Burton said in the campaign.
First, the books and video field trips that comprise “Reading Rainbow” will be made available on the Web for children, and secondly, a classroom set will be available for free for teachers.
Burton, known for his role on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as Geordie La Forge, has hosted and worked with “Reading Rainbow” for 31 years.
Fans of the program went online to give and to share their stories.
“Reading rainbow saved me as child. I will never forget how much the show affected me and inspired me to keep reading. Thank you LeVar for everything. I will see you at the Star Trek convention!” one person wrote in the comment section.
The enthusiasm for the campaign led Burton to tweet:
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.