Midlands Reading Consortium (MRC)

Be a MRC Volunteer 2024-2025 School Year

The United Way of the Midlands Reading Consortium was formed to increase the number of children reading at grade level by the start of fourth grade. By engaging volunteers to read with students throughout the school year, these consistent one-on-one interactions help to build comprehension, literacy, and vocabulary skills. The program supports Richland, Lexington, Fairfield, Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Newberry counties.  

Each child in the program also receives 8-10 free books to take home at the end of the school year. Thank you for helping children succeed!   

During registration, you may be prompted to submit information for the MRC background check. Background checks are required for new MRC volunteers and must be renewed every year. Returning volunteers may be asked to complete a new background check. You will be directed to a new site for the background check.

• A New volunteer is someone who has not served as an MRC volunteer in the last 24 months.
• A Returning volunteer is someone who has served as an MRC volunteer in the last 12 months. 
• Click VOLUNTEER at the top right corner of the screen.
• During registration you will be prompted to complete a Sterling Volunteer background check. 
• Within 12-24 hours, volunteers who have a clear background check will receive an email from the United Way of the Midlands' Volunteer Center to complete the MRC registration process. (Make sure you check your spam folder, if not seen). 
• You will then click “A Response to Need” to complete the process. 
• If you do not receive this email, please contact us at MRC@uway.org.

Consider the possibilities of volunteering 30 minutes a week to assist a striving reader!  You can help by signing up now!

You are invited to become a part of United Way of the Midlands Reading Consortium (MRC)! We offer virtual and in-person volunteer reading opportunities. Volunteers provide one-on-one reading support to prekindergarten - third grade students across the Midlands. Our 2024-2025 program runs from September – May. Volunteers are accepted through February 2025 for the 2024-2025 school year. Volunteers can register anytime, but volunteers signing up after February 2025 will be added to list for the 2025-2026 school year. Volunteers you may be contacted for other volunteer opportunities throughout the year.

South Carolina’s Read to Succeed Act requires that, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, a student must be retained in the third grade if the student does not demonstrate reading proficiency at the end of third grade as indicated by scoring at the lowest achievement level on the state summative reading assessment SC READY. Volunteers help prekindergarten - third grade students progress towards grade-level reading proficiency.