Another Successful Year of the UGI-RIF Books For Ownership Program

UGI Utilities is proud to partner with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)’s Books for Ownership program, which provides students greater access to books!

Through the program, schools in our service territory host two book distribution events each year where first-grade students pick out a book of their choice to take home and add to their personal library.

During the 2024-2025 school year, UGI and RIF supported 13,807 first-grade students at 73 schools across Pennsylvania. These students each selected two books during book distribution events, adding more than 30,000 books to home libraries this year.

The program brings to life the magic of reading, demonstrates the power of books, and is memorable and impactful for the children that attend them. For some, these moments are where they select their very first books. For others, they add to a small collection at home.

UGI employees serve as an important part of this program by volunteering to read to students, help students pick out their book to take home, and portray The Reading Wizard, which is a UGI-created character who visits classrooms to show students how magical reading can be. This school year, 71 UGI Utilities employees volunteered at a RIF event. The program not only makes an impact on the students, but also on the UGI employees who volunteer at book distribution events.

“I had multiple kids say to me while in costume, ‘The Reading Wizard makes reading so much more fun!’ This fuels me to continue making an impact on my community and I’m proud to represent UGI,” said UGI volunteer Ray B.

In addition to a number of employee volunteer opportunities, UGI Utilities also sponsored literacy kits to be delivered to 1,800 students at schools throughout our service territory.

Each kit included three books, bookmarks, and activity sheets inside a RIF-UGI branded tote bag. Employees from 18 offices assembled the literacy kits and delivered the completed kits to nearby schools. The literacy kits were distributed to students during Read Across America Week in March.

Thank you to our employees for supporting this program and inspiring a love of reading in students across our service territory!

Follow UGI Utilities on Facebook (@UGIUtilities), Twitter (@UGI_Utilities), and Instagram (@ugiutilities) or visit https://www.ugi.com/community-programs to learn more about how UGI is supporting literacy in the community.