JUL 2 (afternoon)--Chiefs FB Tony Richardson, who known in Kansas City and throughout the National Football League by the moniker of “T-Rich,” has once again boosted fundraising for the Dictionary Project Kansas City with a $5,000 gift from his Rich in Spirit Foundation. The 10-year veteran has adopted the Dictionary Project as his main charity, and now serves as spokesperson and leading advocate for the fledgling nonprofit group.

Thanks to outstanding and generous support from individuals and organizations throughout the community, the Dictionary Project Kansas City distributed more than 9,000 dictionaries during the 2002-2003 school year. That number far surpassed the organization’s first-year goal to distribute 5,000 of the reference books.

The extraordinary success of the Dictionary Project Kansas City can be attributed to the relationships forged by donors and volunteers with schools and students by presenting the dictionaries. Notably, Tony Richardson personally delivered the project’s first shipment of dictionaries last year to third graders at Trailwoods Elementary School on Kansas City’s east side, and made an initial $5,000 grant to the organization last year, as well.

However, his commitment to the program didn’t end with that donation and initial school visit. Richardson was also on hand at St. Peter’s Cathedral Elementary School in Kansas City, Kansas last year as he helped to distribute the 5,000th dictionary.

Richardson helps a third graders from St. Peter’s Cathedral Elementary School look up a word in his new dictionary. He was on hand to personally deliver the 5,000th dictionary on behalf of the Dictionary Project Kansas City.

Founded by Christopher Hope, a lifelong crusader for children and literacy issues, Dictionary Project Kansas City was established during spring 2002 as a 501(c)(3) fund of The Truman Heartland Community Foundation and Reading Reaches, Inc. Its purpose is to deliver free dictionaries to every third grader in the five-county metro area every year. Led by an all-volunteer staff and board of directors, Dictionary Project Kansas City focuses on allowing children to discover the meaning of “success,” “respect” and “resilience.”

Tax-deductible donations, including the most recent gift from the Rich in Spirit Foundation, go to purchase and ship dictionaries, and allow The Dictionary Project Kansas City to communicate about this opportunity with schools, donors and the community.

“Individual volunteers have been key to our success,” says Hope. “It’s easy for individuals to get involved because, through our special purchasing arrangement with McGraw-Hill Publishers, we can purchase and ship dictionaries to an entire third-grade class for only $150.”

Dictionary Project Kansas City plans to distribute about 10,000 dictionaries en masse on Oct. 16, 2003 – the birth anniversary of Noah Webster. “We need about 100 volunteers to meet that goal,” Hope says. Interested groups or individuals can call Hope directly at 816-274-8670 or visit: www.DictionaryProjectKC.org.

-CHIEFS IN THE COMMUNITY - JOIN OUR TEAM-