LeVar Burton Launches Kickstarter for Reading Rainbow

If you just got knocked over by someone racing to their tablet, it's nothing personal. They probably just want to donate to LeVar Burton's new Kickstarter campaign launched only this morning. The star is striving to raise $1 Million to relaunch Reading Rainbow, a show that has been missed by Gen Y and Millenial alike since it went off the air in 2009.

This time around, Burton wants to also make Reading Rainbow available for free to classrooms that need it. As an exchange for Kickstarter donations, the Star Trek icon is offering benefactors nearly irresistible perks. You can hang with him at a Star Trek convention, FandomFest or Wizard World. You can enjoy a private picnic with him and your friends or share a private dinner. Perhaps, the creme de la creme at a $10,000 donation level is a dinner with Mr. Burton where you and a friend get to wear the "Geordi Visor" he made famous on the intergalactic show.

Burton is leveraging his ultra-popular social media status - he's still the the only person Shit My Dad Says follows on Twitter - to spread the word. It seems to be working. In just seven hours, Burton has managed to raise over $570,000 with over 12,000 backers and he still has 34 days to go on the campaign trail.