News Room

Children play with some of the Read, Play, Thrive literacy kit resources at the Eastern Shore Regional Library in Salisbury, Md., that were funded through a grant from the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. Pictured from left are Barb Graham, youth services manager, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Bill Hetherington, executive director of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, and Rachael Stein, information services manager, Eastern Shore Regional Library.

Salisbury, Md. (November 15, 2012) - Building upon its commitment to education, Perdue Farms, through a $5,000 grant funded by the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, is helping the Eastern Shore Regional Library create early learning literacy centers at its network of 24 libraries on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

“These centers are a natural extension of the library’s services to families,” explains Rachael Stein, information services manager at the Eastern Shore Regional Library. “Making sure that children start school ready to learn is one of our key objectives, and young children learn best through play. With the help of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, we will be able to provide fun, educational experiences that set children on the path to become life-long learners.”

The early literacy centers are part of the Eastern Shore Regional Library’s “Read, Play, Thrive” initiative and align with Maryland public school readiness standards. “Read, Play, Thrive” kits emphasize the concept of play as an aspect of early literacy. The kits include such resources as books, puppets, matching games and sensory toys designed to help librarians create child-friendly areas to encourage children to play and learn. Each kit includes instructions to encourage parents and caregivers to explore the kits with their children.

“At Perdue Farms, we have a long history of supporting educational initiatives through the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, and we applaud the Eastern Shore Regional Library’s efforts aimed at promoting early literacy skills so that children enter school ready to learn and read,” said Bill Hetherington, executive director of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation.

About the Eastern Shore Regional Library
Established in 1965, the Eastern Shore Regional Library of Maryland empowers libraries by connecting them to resources, services and expertise, building vital communities. For more information about Eastern Shore Regional Library, visit www.esrl.lib.dm.us.

About Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms is the parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness, and represents the Perdue family ownership. Since our beginning on Arthur Perdue’s farm in 1920, through expansion into agribusiness and the introduction of the PERDUE® brand of chicken and turkey under Frank Perdue, to our third-generation of family leadership with Chairman Jim Perdue, we’ve remained a family-owned, family-operated company dedicated to making Perdue the most-trusted name in food and agricultural products. To learn more about Perdue, visit www.perdue.com™.

About the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business, the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities where large numbers of our associates live and work. At Perdue Farms, we believe in responsible food and agriculture™.