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Everybody Wins! Vermont is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year! Since opening its first two locations in October of 2000, Everybody Wins! Vermont has become the largest mentoring organization in the state.
Everybody Wins! Vermont recruits, trains, and supervises adult reading mentors who are matched one-on-one with children. These mentors go into schools and read with the children every week throughout the school year. Their mission is not to teach children how to read, as the schools are there to educate.
Beth Wallace, Executive Director at Everybody Wins! Vermont, said, “We see and hear from parents and teachers about how kids, who often don’t like coming to school, always show up on the days their mentors come. They have good days on those days—they look forward to it and are more relaxed after spending that time with their mentors. There are kids who didn’t want to read before who now spend time in the library. They are even caught reading for fun at home when they are supposed to be doing other things, like cleaning their room!”
Mascoma Bank has had a long relationship with Everybody Wins! Vermont—which has been a loyal customer of the bank for 25 years. Ginny West, Assistant Vice President Retail Operations Officer, left a lasting impact on Everybody Wins! Vermont. Wallace mentioned, “Before e-signatures were possible, Ginny West drove our loan applications all over to get the signatures of our board members. People at Mascoma go out of their way to make things better and easier for us. Mascoma has always worked with us to help the organization financially with success and stability. We have had many Mascoma employees serve as mentors over the years. We have also had two Mascoma employees on our Board—previous Board President Todd Allen and current Treasurer Elizabeth Vessichio.” Todd is a former Financial Advisor at Mascoma Wealth Management and Elizabeth is a Vice President Commercial Loan Officer at Mascoma Bank.
Everybody Wins! Vermont has had wonderful success with the children it mentors. Wallace shared, “We had a Claremont student in third grade who was reluctant to participate in class. His class often read aloud, and he would never volunteer or would refuse to participate if called upon. He met with his reading mentor for a few weeks and suddenly he was volunteering every day during read aloud time. He volunteered so much he was told he needed to let the other kids volunteer as well!”
Everybody Wins! Vermont has its largest fundraiser, Race to the Top of Vermont, coming up this summer on Sunday, August 24, 2025. More information is available at everybodywinsvermont.org/support/race-to-the-top/.
Mascoma Bank wishes Everybody Wins! Vermont further success in reading mentorship. We are proud to support its mission to encourage children to love reading.
