Dozens of elementary school children came to a West Berkeley park Thursday to partake in obstacle courses, basketball games and face painting provided by a city and UC Berkeley volunteer organization.

Student-volunteers from Project BUILD, a summer program run by the city and campus to promote literacy in elementary school children, organized the community event to recognize the program and kick off this summer's efforts.

City and campus officials including Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Harry Le Grande, UC Berkeley Student Affairs Vice Chancellor, attended the event to discuss reading and to distribute free books to the children.

"I cannot tell you how important it is to read. When I was growing up, I actually was not a good reader," said Bates, who founded the program in 2003. "But reading is the gateway to being a great learner."

The program sends students from the campus's Cal Corps Public Service Center to ten Berkeley sites where they tutor children to help them improve their reading skils, he said.

While the program is known for promoting literacy, it has also been working to advocate healthy living, city officials said at the event.

During the festivities, the park was lined with tables that provided children with jump ropes and healthy snacks.

Carrie Donovan, Cal Corps program manager for K-12 programs, said the volunteers' involvement is essential to the program's success.

"We have 70 Cal students that visit ten sites in the area," she said. "All students are dedicated to the cause."

UC Berkeley junior and program volunteer Nestor Espinoza said that he found out about Cal Corps and Project BUILD through his housemate.

"One of my housemates worked with Cal Corps and I figured, why not?" he said. "Sometimes it gets pretty hectic, but it's worth it when you have one on one face time and see the kids' improvement."

Cal Corps volunteers will continue to tutor children until the end of August.

Tags: CAL CORPS, BUILD PROGRAM