LeVar Burton's Emotional Reaction to The Reading Rainbow Kickstarter Raising $1 Million

We told you about LeVar Burton’s Kickstarter campaign to bring back the beloved Reading Rainbow. Well, Burton’s kickstarter reached its $1 million goal, meaning Reading Rainbow will be back, on the Internet and in low-income schools, enhancing child literacy and working to bring reading to everyone.

“I am overwhelmed. Yesterday was an amazing day and quite emotional. To have reached our goal in roughly 11 hours was beyond our wildest imaginings,” Burton said in a Reddit AMA this afternoon. “The fact that so many people have become a part of this, and are donating $1, $5, $10 – this is, I believe, a response to the need for people to feel like they can make a difference.”

You can watch Burton’s emotional response to watching the Kickstarter reach its goal here:

Today, the campaign is closing in on the $2 million mark, almost twice its original goal. And while there are some debbie downers who argue that Reading Rainbow’s private, for-profit model isn’t appropriate for Kickstarter, it’s hard to really hate on a program and a person that is so earnestly working to improve child literacy. I mean, do you really want to be that person? Do you want that kind of hate on your soul?