— Nearly 19,000 books read by Houston-area elementary students for Slide Into Summer reading program —

Before jumping into back-to-school season, Reliant and the Astros Foundation are celebrating the thousands of Houston-area elementary students who participated in this year’s “Slide Into Summer Reading” program. In the program’s second year, nearly 5,000 students read nearly 19,000 books, logging over 14,000 reading hours.

The top 3,000 Reliant Readers based on reading time have been invited to one of three games in the Houston Astros vs. Cleveland Guardians series, with one lucky student receiving the opportunity to yell “play ball” at the start of the August 1 game.

“It’s a joy to know we’re helping instill a lifelong love of reading for thousands of students in our hometown,” said Elizabeth Killinger, president, Reliant. “Literacy is an invaluable life skill, impacting nearly every aspect of a child’s potential. We applaud these students and their families for their commitment to reading over the summer, and we know these Reliant Readers will be ready to aim for the fences in the new school year.”

“We’ve been thrilled with the enthusiastic response to our Slide Into Summer Reading program with Reliant this year. It’s an honor to help these students form great habits by encouraging daily reading at an early age,” said Paula Harris, Executive Director, Astros Foundation. “As an Astros Community Leader, Reliant shares our passion for supporting and inspiring Houston youth, and we’re both proud of how the program is helping combat the summer slide.”

As the Official Energy Provider of the Houston Astros and member of the team’s Community Leaders program, Reliant joined with the Astros Foundation in 2022 to start the incentive-based reading program. The name is a nod to the “summer slide,” which occurs when students – predominately younger and disadvantaged – can lose up to two months of reading achievement while out of school for the summer, negatively impacting their education for years to come. The program includes book distributions, a book club, reading rallies and educational resources for students in K-5^th grade. Reliant donated more than 3,000 free books, backpacks, bookmarks and healthy snacks for kickoff events at the start of summer.

For more information on the Slide Into Summer Reading program, visit astros.com/reliantreader.

About Reliant, an NRG company

Reliant powers and simplifies life by bringing electricity and related services to homes and businesses across Texas. Serving customers and the community is at the core of what we do, and the company is recognized nationally for outstanding customer experience. Reliant is part of NRG Energy, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. NRG is a leading energy and home services company operating in the United States and Canada, powered by people and our passion for a smarter, cleaner, and more connected future. For more information about Reliant, visit reliant.com and connect with Reliant on Facebook at facebook.com/reliantenergy and Twitter or Instagram @reliantenergy. PUCT Certificate #10007.

About The Astros Foundation

The Astros Foundation, the official 501(c)(3) team charity of the Houston Astros, seeks to harness the passion of baseball fans to support youth baseball and softball programs, the recognition and honor of our nation’s military, childhood cancer awareness, efforts to reduce homelessness and domestic violence awareness. Our cornerstone initiatives include the Community Leaders program, the Astros Youth Academy and the Astros RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) Program. For more information on the Astros Foundation, please visit www.astros.com/foundation.

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