Courtesy of Reading Rainbow The PBS series ‘Reading Rainbow’ was hosted by LeVar Burton, and ran from 1983 to 2006. LeVar Burton has found a pot of gold at the end of “Reading Rainbow.”
The “Star Trek” actor launched a Kickstarter fund-raiser Wednesday to bring his PBS children’s series online, stating he needed to raise $1 million to reach his goal. The show, which aired from 1983 to 2006, and was launched as an app in 2012. Burton’s new project was to bring “Reading Rainbow’s” extensive digital library of books and videos to classrooms across the country for free.
“We can genuinely change the world, one children’s book at a time,” Burton said in a video announcing the project. “’Reading Rainbow’ is back for every child, everywhere.”
Burton allotted 35 days to raise the funds, but he couldn’t have anticipated that “Rainbow” was so beloved by fans that the project achieved $1 million in donations in less than one day. In fact, the Kickstarter page has surpassed the goal, with backers pledging more than $1.6 million to date.
The “Reading Rainbow” host responded to the good news on Wednesday evening by tweeting “#Grateful.”
Burton followed with a more personal response Thursday, posting a YouTube video that showed him and his colleagues cheering and hugging each other after their goal was met.
“Kickstarters, I don’t know what to say,” the teary eyed Burton said to the camera. “We just crossed the million-dollar threshold, it is our first day. I am overwhelmed. Thank you so much. This is going to enable us to really, really, really do a lot of good.
Courtesy of Reading Rainbow ‘We can genuinely change the world, one children’s book at a time,’ LeVar Burton said about his goal to raise money to bring ‘Reading Rainbow’ online. “I am so proud that this community has come together to support this effort, and it’s a people’s thing. It’s the five (dollars), it’s the 10, it’s the 25. It’s the $1 pledges. It’s unbelievable. Or, actually, it’s very believable. Thank you so much. We are literally changing the world, one children’s book at a time. God bless.”
With Cristina Everett
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