Volunteer/match manager Anna Sunstrom sometimes compares herself to Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. “Volunteers don’t often see me, but they should know I’m there,” she says. Sunstrom, who first got involved with EWI as a mentor when she was a student at Grand View University, receives mentor applications and conducts background checks and orientations before sending new mentors to site coordinators to be matched with students. She also assists the organization with special events and manages data. Sunstrom occasionally ventures into the schools that EWI serves, and calls that the best part of her job: “I love seeing the matches work together. I like seeing the relationships form.”

Sunstrom is currently working on a master’s degree in mental health counseling and is bringing elements of social emotional learning into the Power Read program. “Even if students have great mental health, they get a huge boost from having a mentor, and the reading and mentoring work together to boost each other and help our students,” she says.

Katie Jones is the new president of the EWI Board of Directors, and she’s wasting no time in getting down to business. “This is still a challenging time due to COVID,” she said. “We know lots of kids have slipped behind in reading during the pandemic. Meanwhile, costs are rising, and fundraising has become more challenging. Now more than ever, it’s important to support reading in young kids.” Jones is a fan of the monthly donation option. “I make my donation recurring, so it’s spread out over the course of the year,” she said. A mentor of five years, Jones reads at Capitol View Elementary School and emphasizes the importance of the mentorship aspect of Power Read. “One of my students went through some hard times and it was clearly meaningful for that child to have another adult to talk to. For me, Power Read is so easy and it’s great to develop a relationship with your students over the years.”