Help a Child!
Make a Difference!
CAN YOU READ THIS?
Millions of Children Can't
We’re not talking about some
Third World Country.
We are talking about the United States.
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In America…
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1 in 4 children grows up without learning to read.
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In California, 50% of our children are unable to read at grade level.
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In many low income neighborhoods, the number is 80%.
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The majority of these children are from low income backgrounds.
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These numbers have not improved in 20 years.
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Todos Santos is working to change the odds...one child at a time.
POVERTY IS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF CHILD ILLITERACY
A society must be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members—its children. The "State of America’s Children" 2020 makes it abundantly clear that by this measure, America is falling shamefully short*.
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The number of low-income students more than doubled between the 2000 and 2013.
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Trapped in inequitable schools, low-income students suffer academically. More than 70 percent of low-income eighth grade students were not proficient in reading or math in 2019.
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More than 60% of low-income families have no children’s books in their home.
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More than 50% of low-income fourth graders score below basic level on national literacy assessments compared to just 20% of their more affluent peers.
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Children living in poverty who can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade are 13 times less likely to graduate high school with their more affluent peers.
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As these children progress through school they fall further and further behind, until they run out of time to catch up.
*savethechildren.org
WHO WE ARE
Todos Santos is a privately funded 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization created to…help disadvantaged children…break the cycle of poverty…through early education.
Most of our children are from low income backgrounds, performing in the bottom quartile of their classes, needing help to avoid falling even further behind.
We are a ‘team’ of teachers, mentors, volunteers, and donors, working together to change the odds for as many children as we can through early education.
We do this by offering Early Learning Programs in low income neighborhoods at no cost to disadvantaged children and English learners.
‘Open books…Open doors’
Dream Big*
Read!
WHAT WE DO
We offer Early Literacy Programs at no cost to underprivileged children and English learners.
We offer our Programs using accredited teachers supported by college students and others who we hire and train as ‘Literacy Coaches’.
Due to the lack of basic reading skills of many of the children who come to us much of our initial effort is devoted to teaching phonics.
Many of the children who come to us have little or no exposure to science. For this reason, much of the materials we use are science-based. We endeavor to combine ‘fun science’ with our reading instruction.
Our objective is to close the gap between our less fortunate children and their more affluent peers…one child at a time.
HOW WE DO IT
Our model targets the unique learning needs of low-income children and English learners. Our classes are small, generally 5 or fewer students per class.
​We hire accredited teachers and support them with college students and others who we hire and train as Reading Coaches.
​We utilize the ‘small group learning’ model. This model has proven to be one of the best methods for helping underperforming students catch up with their classmates.
This model is specially designed to enable the instructor to devote special attention to individual students who are struggling.
​Our unique model and curriculum were developed with the help of an
award-winning educator* with many years’ experience teaching struggling children to read in some of the poorest neighborhoods of South-Central
Los Angeles.
​* Martha Garibay, our Curriculum Advisor, was selected as Teacher of the Year for Los Angeles twice from over 25,000 teachers.
WHY WE DO IT
Helping struggling children learn to read is our first priority.
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50% of American adults cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level.
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50% of students fail the California Standards Test in reading, year after year.
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85% of juvenile offenders struggle to read.
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60% of people in prison can’t read
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75% of people on welfare can’t read (1).
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Our Goal is to close the literacy gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers…one child at a time.
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(1) Sources: National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau,
CAN YOU READ THIS?
Small Group Learning
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https://www.hmhco.com/blog/strategies-for-small-group-reading-instruction
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​In California classrooms, large class size is one of the major
impediments to learning for children who need additional
attention and practice. California school teachers have little time
to devote additional attention to individual students. If a child
fails to understand a particular concept she simply falls behind.
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Our small group learning model utilizing Reading Coaches enables
us to devote special attention to students who are struggling.
​Teaching children in small groups allows for a more intimate setting where students feel greater confidence in participating
and enables the instructor to observe students more closely and focus more on meeting particular needs of individual students.
​Research demonstrates that teaching struggling students in small
groups leads to significantly greater learning gains.
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SMALL GROUP LEARNING
Todos Santos Creates
Humanitarian Food Distribution Center
September 2025
Todos Santos is a private education Nonprofit based in Santa Ana California. We teach disadvantaged first and second graders in low-income neighborhoods to read and do math.
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Recently, Todos Santos participated in the creation of a humanitarian food Distribution Center in downtown Santa Ana, California. Our mission is to feed children who are innocent victims of ongoing and now expanding random ICE Raids.
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Our Partners in this humanitarian undertaking are Feed the Children and Scholarship Prep.
​Feed the Children is an International Children’s Charity dedicated to combating child hunger worldwide. Scholarship Prep is a local Charter School dedicated to serving the needs not only of its Scholars, but of their families as well. Todos Santos is a private education Nonprofit dedicated to helping disadvantaged children break the cycle of poverty through early education. Together, Feed the Children, Scholarship Prep and Todos Santos are collaborating to feed the children of Santa Ana.
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Already Feed the Children has begun delivering food to our local Distribution Center. Deliveries of several tons of food per month will continue for as long as the need persists. Soon we hope to be providing food for 500 families a month.
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Interested parties are invited to visit our Distribution Center in downtown Santa Ana to see how we do this. Your visit will be a heartwarming experience.
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In our 6 years of helping disadvantaged children Todos Santos has never sought outside donations from anyone. We have funded our programs mostly on our own. However, the needs of our current humanitarian effort are so great that help is needed. Anyone wishing to support our worthy cause may do so by donating to Feed the Children.
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For each dollar of your tax-deductible donation Feed the Children will provide $8 worth of food to our Distribution Center in Santa Ana*.
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A donation of $100 will feed 20 families for a week.
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For more information please visit the Feed the Children website (Feedthechildren.org), the Scholarship Prep website (santa-ana.scholarshipschools.org), or the Todos Santos website (todossantosfoundation.org).
Make a difference! Help us feed the children of Santa Ana.
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James Russ, Founder
Todos Santos Foundation
*How to Donate.
To make a donation to the Feed the Children Humanitarian Food Distribution Center in Santa Ana (the ‘Orange County Hub’):
Click on www.feedthechildren.org/givenow .
A Secure Donation window will pop up.
At the bottom of the Secure Donation form right above the blue donate
button, there’s a spot that says: “Designate to Where Needed Most"
Click on that and you will see a drop-down list: Select ‘Food & Essentials
Hubs’.
Whenever Feed the Children receives a gift designated to a specific program
with multiple locations (like one of its 11 Hubs), their team will contact the
donor to confirm which specific Hub the donor had in mind.
When contacted, indicate Orange County Hub.
If you have any questions about how to donate, please call me: James Russ,
949 500 0977.
The Children of Santa Ana thank you for your generous
donation.
Help us to make a difference in the life of a child.
BECOMING A READING COACH
BECOMING A READING COACH
Providing Early Learning Programs to disadvantaged students is expensive. But the cost of not providing these programs is much greater.
Donate today to help students in neighborhoods with limited access to well-funded learning and enrichment programs gain access to the resources available to their more affluent peers in middle and upper class neighborhoods.
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Use the payment method below.
For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation of
money or used books please contact:
James Russ, Founder
Todos Santos Foundation
220 Newport Center Drive,
Ste 11-280
Newport Beach, CA 92660
TodosSantosFoundation@gmail.com
