{"id":272839,"date":"2026-04-17T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272839\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T17:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:05:19","slug":"relief-society-member-champions-literacy-in-california-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/272839\/","title":{"rendered":"Relief Society member champions literacy in California \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, April 11, Veterans Park in Porterville, California, filled with children and their parents commemorating the 25th anniversary of Porterville Celebrates Reading<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The annual community event emphasizes the importance of literacy. Schools and community groups come together each year to promote reading and literacy, even for the youngest children. And each child choses a free book to add to his or her home library.<\/p>\n

Patience Christenson, who is a member of the Porterville Ward in the Porterville California Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been the event\u2019s committee chair since 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur local Relief Society sisters have been involved with Porterville Celebrates Reading since its founding around 1993, though it became recognized by the city in 2000, so I am just continuing the legacy started by them,\u201d Christenson said.<\/p>\n

\"FamiliesFamilies read together at the Porterville Celebrates Reading 25th anniversary event in Porterville, California, Saturday, April 11, 2026. | Janet Uresti <\/p>\n

The founder, the late Margaret Slattery, believed that literacy started in the home and had a goal of every child having their own home library. Two of her friends, Debbie Stockton and Catherine May, are members of the Church and also heavily involved in the event, Christenson said.<\/p>\n

Literacy has long been a priority for the Relief Society. In 1991<\/a>, the Relief Society launched literacy programs among at-risk communities. And the list of 25 ways<\/a> that women can be involved in the Relief Society\u2019s global efforts to care for women and children includes these suggestions:<\/p>\n

Support the literacy and education of women and children by identifying and combating barriers in the community.Help children read aloud. Nothing improves children\u2019s cognitive skills more than reading with adults who care about them.<\/p>\n

Every year at the Porterville Celebrates Reading event, local schools, nonprofits and community organizations assemble booths that are completely free to all participants. When the children arrive, they are given a red \u201cpassport,\u201d shaped like a stop sign to match the event logo of \u201cStop and read to your child.\u201d <\/p>\n

Children walk from booth to booth, listen to a story and then participate in a craft or activity. After each booth, a hole is punched in their passport. Once they have eight hole punches, they can go and pick out a free book for their home library. <\/p>\n

\"AA child reads a book at the Porterville Celebrates Reading 25th anniversary event in Porterville, California, Saturday, April 11, 2026. | Janet Uresti <\/p>\n

\u201cThis year we had 38 booths participate and 475 passports turned in,\u201d Christenson said. \u201cEven though the kids heard many of the same books, they all hear it differently and learn something unique to their lives, which means the children heard 3,800 books in a four-hour period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christenson, who has six children and teaches music, attended Porterville Celebrates Reading as a young mother and kept going after that. She has served on the city\u2019s Library and Literacy Commission as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to read,\u201d she said. \u201cI know the importance of literacy and how people can educate themselves, especially if they do not have the opportunity to receive a formal education. We can better our lives through knowledge gained from books.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OrganizersOrganizers and volunteers take a picture in front of the Optimist Club of Porterville at the Porterville Celebrates Reading event in Porterville, California, April 11, 2026. | Janet Uresti <\/p>\n

In an email to the Church News, Christenson quoted Sister Mary N. Cook<\/a>, then the first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, who said in April 2012 general conference<\/a>, \u201cGaining knowledge now will pay huge dividends when you become a mother.\u201d <\/p>\n

Said Christenson, \u201cEvery mother wants what\u2019s best for her children, and I want what\u2019s best for my community, which is another reason I continue to help coordinate this event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her husband, children, in-laws and extended family also help with the event, making it somewhat of a family tradition \u2014 but it is more than that, she said. The Church teaches all to follow the example of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and to serve in their homes, wards and communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy serving within my community, I know that I am serving my Father in Heaven,\u201d Christenson said. \u201cI know that my children are learning to serve. Even if only one child discovers a love of reading and learning through this event, I am so grateful for this opportunity to spread the joys of learning and serve in my community, and my family has been blessed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Patience Christenson, left, gives gift baskets to members of the Porterville Police Department at the Porterville Celebrates Reading 25th anniversary event in Porterville, California, Saturday, April 11, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, April 11, Veterans Park in Porterville, California, filled with children and their parents commemorating the 25th…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2215],"class_list":{"0":"post-272839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-women"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}