Buy tickets to the Page & Turner Comic Relief Show fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. Click here.
Why Does the Metro East Literacy Project (MELP) Want a Mascot?
By Linda M. Mitchell, Executive Director
I’ve seen it many times. Whenever a fun mascot is on the scene, children—and adults, too—flock to it for a smile, a hug, or a photo. Mascots have a unique ability to capture attention, create happy memories, and build a lasting connection with the organization they represent.
That is exactly the kind of impact MELP envisions for Page and Turner, our kangaroo and joey mascot. Page and Turner will become literacy ambassadors, spreading the joy and importance of reading at schools, libraries, festivals, parades, book distributions, and community events throughout the Metro East.
Behind the fun, however, is a serious purpose. The literacy crisis affecting communities within the MELP service area is real. According to 2026 KIDS COUNT data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 70% of Illinois fourth graders were not proficient in reading in 2024, compared with 66% in 2019. Closer to home, 87.3% of third graders in one local school district were not reading at grade level in 2025.
MELP’s mission is to help change those outcomes. But before we can change the statistics, we must capture the attention of families and communities and inspire them to make literacy a priority.
Page and Turner will help us do that.
By sponsoring a $500 table at our Page and Turner Comic Relief Show, your company will help MELP bring these characters to life and create a highly visible, family-friendly literacy ambassador with the potential to reach thousands of children and families throughout the Metro East for years to come.
We hope your company will join MELP in putting a friendly face on literacy—and helping us transform book deserts into rich landscapes of literacy.
By Linda M. Mitchell, Executive Director
I’ve seen it many times. Whenever a fun mascot is on the scene, children—and adults, too—flock to it for a smile, a hug, or a photo. Mascots have a unique ability to capture attention, create happy memories, and build a lasting connection with the organization they represent.
That is exactly the kind of impact MELP envisions for Page and Turner, our kangaroo and joey mascot. Page and Turner will become literacy ambassadors, spreading the joy and importance of reading at schools, libraries, festivals, parades, book distributions, and community events throughout the Metro East.
Behind the fun, however, is a serious purpose. The literacy crisis affecting communities within the MELP service area is real. According to 2026 KIDS COUNT data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 70% of Illinois fourth graders were not proficient in reading in 2024, compared with 66% in 2019. Closer to home, 87.3% of third graders in one local school district were not reading at grade level in 2025.
MELP’s mission is to help change those outcomes. But before we can change the statistics, we must capture the attention of families and communities and inspire them to make literacy a priority.
Page and Turner will help us do that.
By sponsoring a $500 table at our Page and Turner Comic Relief Show, your company will help MELP bring these characters to life and create a highly visible, family-friendly literacy ambassador with the potential to reach thousands of children and families throughout the Metro East for years to come.
We hope your company will join MELP in putting a friendly face on literacy—and helping us transform book deserts into rich landscapes of literacy.
The mascot sponsorship program began on February 1, 2025. The end date is to be determined.
An option to donate without sponsorship is available.
An option to donate without sponsorship is available.
Pay online or mail a check to Metro East Literacy Project, 119 Famous St, O’Fallon, IL 62269. Contact Linda M. Mitchell at [email protected],
618-558-8527.
618-558-8527.
Click here for more sponsorship information.
Thank you to our Page and Turner mascot sponsors!
