For the past several years, Limited Brands has partnered with the Columbus Public Schools to make a positive difference in the lives of many kindergarteners around Central Ohio. Through the ColumbusReads program, Limited Brands' employees have contributed more than 125,000 hours of their time and talent tutoring more than 1,700 students to help improve their reading and scholastic skills. This past 2005-2006 school year, about 400 Limited Brands employees volunteered over 15,000 hours of tutoring and mentoring to approximately 200 kindergarten students.

Columbus Public Schools along with Limited Brands continue to provide inner-city students at three elementary schools - Sullivant, Lincoln Park and Linden - with two thirty minute tutoring sessions per child three days a week throughout the 2005-2006 school year. During this tutoring session, Limited Brands employees work one-on-one with the kindergartners to reinforce the fundamentals of reading as well as vocabulary language skills that are being taught in the classroom. In addition to supporting these students academically, the program also supports students emotionally, through a tutor commitment of fostering children's self-esteem so they develop a positive attitude towards learning.

"We value and appreciate the time commitment Limited Brands and its employees devote to our Columbus Reads program," said Virgie Homeny, ColumbusReads Supervisor, Columbus Public Schools. "It's wonderful to see the excitement on the faces of these children when they see their tutors walk into the classroom." "The one-on-one tutoring and mentoring has made such an impact on these students not only academically but also emotionally ... it reinforces the curriculum and supports our mission at Columbus Public Schools."