EchoBlog

The Reading Rainbow program is designed to bring reading into the lives of children, and LeVar Burton is looking to bring it back to the classroom to help children foster a love of reading. The former host of the Reading Rainbow Program (1983-2006) launched a fundraiser on KickStarter to raise $5 million to bring launch a Reading Rainbow app as well as creating a classroom version available free of charge to more than 7,500 underprivileged classrooms.

Funnyman and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane made public this week his approval of Burton’s program by announcing his own donation. Until July 2, the end of the KickStarter campaign, MacFarlane is going to match each contribution made to the program up to $1 million. Supporters have five days to make their donations to help Burton and MacFarlane reach their $1 million goal.

The program’s initial goal was to raise $1 million, but after the campaign made that goal in less than one day, Burton decided to make it bigger, bring it to more schools and provide Reading Rainbow to more children with disadvantages.

After MacFarlane’s incredibly generous announcement, Burton issued a thank you to the comedian, “Seth, this donation is going to help us ensure that this next generation is indeed a generation that loves to read. And that’s no small thing. You’ve got deep pockets, baby. But you’ve got an even bigger heart,” the former host of the long-popular show, Reading Rainbow, gushed.

Any donation made between now and the campaign’s end on July 2 is going to receive a dollar-for-dollar match from MacFarlane, which means the program needs another $500,000 in donations from fans and supporters to reach its goal. Fans can help sponsor the program and bring reading to schools that are not able to provide this important educational gift to students with MacFarlane’s generous offer to help.

(Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

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