Children from the Buffalo West Even Start, Holy Cross Head Start, Boys and Girls Clubs of Buffalo, Buffalo City Even Start and Erie Regional Housing Development Corp. and their families will participate as the Buffalo Alliance for Family Literacy, headed by the Buffalo Public Schools, celebrates National Family Literacy Day on Friday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. in the basement of Holy Cross Head Start at 150 Maryland St

Project FLIGHT, the Buffalo State College-based family literacy program, will give books to nursery school-aged children. The celebration will also include an early-morning field trip to a farm and a 1:30 p.m. performance by storyteller Karima Amin.

The Buffalo Alliance for Family Literacy consists of the Buffalo Public Schools, Project FLIGHT, EPIC, Buffalo West Even Start, Buffalo City Even Start, Success by 6/United Way, Closing the Gap/United Way, Howard Lewis Parent Center, Bethel Head Start, Literacy Volunteers, Boys and Girls Clubs of Buffalo, Holy Cross Head Start, Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES, Erie Regional Housing Development Corp., WNED-TV, Child Care Coalition, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and the Education Fund for Greater Buffalo. Its mission is to provide family literacy programs to break the cycle of intergenerational literacy deficiency by creating and fostering key programs designed to help children succeed in school by encouraging them to read at home with their caregivers.

The Buffalo Family Literacy Alliance, established in 2001, is part of the New York State Family Literacy Alliance housed in Albany, New York. Its founding partners include: The Buffalo Public Schools, Project FLIGHT, EPIC, The Buffalo West Even Start, Buffalo City Even Start, Success by 6/United Way, Closing the Gap/United Way, Literacy Volunteers, Boys and Girls Clubs of Buffalo.

Project FLIGHT, established in 1994 by Buffalo State College English Professor Geraldine Bard and Buffalo State College Chair and Distinguished Service Professor of Educational Foundations Elizabeth (Betty) Cappella, is a grassroots family literacy program that increases community awareness and provides empowerment opportunities for children, families and the elderly through 13 initiatives designed to combat illiteracy, under-education, violence and impoverishment affecting women, children and families.

Project FLIGHT combines four basic illiteracy-fighting tools - adult education, early childhood education for at-risk children, parent training and the intergenerational parent/child learning relationship - with literacy programs for school-aged children to provide direct services and resources to aid service providers and individuals in need.