SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — A South Jersey teen has been given a royal honor for her far-reaching literacy project.
Jordan Grabelle is one of the dozens of recipients of this year’s Diana Award. The charity was established in 1999 to continue Princess Diana’s legacy of recognizing young people who go “above and beyond the expected in their local communities.”
“Getting an award that’s dedicated to her legacy is just really inspiring,” said 17-year-old Grabelle of Voorhees, who founded Love Letters for Literacy.
She created the nonprofit when she was 10 after she noticed elementary school children picking out preschool-level books.
“They only would enter kindergarten knowing one or two letters of the alphabet compared to their more affluent peers who would know all 26 letters,” she said. “I was always wondering why they were reading so far below their grade level.”
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Grabelle enlisted volunteers to draw alphabet flashcards and write personal notes to children encouraging them to read.
“It’s not just the students hearing from their teachers or their parents like, ‘Oh, it’s time to go learn to read.’ Instead, they’re now hearing it from someone who took the time to create a literacy packet just for them,” she said. “It does make them feel like there’s someone out there who cares about them.”
She distributed the literacy packets to preschools in Camden and West Philadelphia.
“I never imagined that it would grow into what it has become today,” she admitted. Nearly 20,000 volunteers have sent packets to 43,000 children in 30 countries.
The Diana Awards, named for the late princess, are given each year to young people making a difference in the world. Prince Harry congratulated this year’s award recipients in an online ceremony last week.
“Hearing from him and being recognized by him was just a really incredible experience,” Grabelle added.
It’s not the first time the Moorestown Friends rising senior has been honored. She was given the Camden County Freedom Medal this year and was recognized as a KYW Newsradio Gamechanger in 2019.
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