Connecting Separated Families through the Power of Reading

Lilo is all about living life to the fullest…and sharing and preserving memories and milestones along the way. We do this not only for our families and loved ones, but also for those who may be touched or benefited by our legacies. As such, we are keenly interested in groups and organizations that improve the quality of life for their chosen segment of mankind. Each week, we plan to feature a unique nonprofit that’s doing meaningful work to helps others.

Our theme for the week is Making a Difference to Children. The nonprofit we’ve selected is making its difference in significant ways. It is the real deal, the sort of organization that inspires us, gives us hope and propels us to get involved. In their own humble words, here is the emotionally powerful beauty of United Through Reading:

About United Through Reading

Separation from a parent is one of life’s most stressful events for children, affecting their sense of security, their relationships and their ability to learn. More than one million American children are separated from one or both parents due to military deployment and nearly double that for children separated from their loved ones due to incarceration, drug treatment or social services. Still others are separated from their grandparents, and therefore, from generational love and learning.

Founded in 1989, United Through Reading is a nonprofit public benefit organization. Our mission is to unite families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. Our vision is that all children will feel the security of caring family relationships and develop a love of reading through the read-aloud experience.

The nationally-acclaimed programs developed by United Through Reading provide opportunities for emotional bonding that relieve the stress of separation and instill a love of reading by providing the opportunity for family members to read aloud to children on DVD. Our programs help bring far-away family members back home for a little while each day, and help turn what might otherwise be tentative, anxious family re-introductions into joyous reunions.

Operation Record a Story

Launched last fall on Veteran’s Day, military moms and dads separated from their children began sharing the closeness of family story time, thanks to Operation Record a Story. Publications International, Ltd., (PIL) donated its Record a Story books to the nonprofit United Through Reading Military Program in order that deployed service members could record and send guided storybooks home to their children. The books, together with a video of the deployed parent recording the story, create an unprecedented program offering the gift of togetherness.

Your loved ones in the military can create an Operation Record a Story recordable storybook at the following United Through Reading locations:

USO DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
USO – Fort Hood, Texas
USO – BWI Airport
USO Camp Beuhring – Kuwait
USO Balad – Iraq
USO Kandahar – Afghanistan
USO Bagram – Afghanistan (Pat Tillman Memorial USO)
USO of Georgia – Jean R. Amos USO Center
USS George H. W. Bush (Naval Station Norfolk, VA)
USS Abraham Lincoln (Everett, WA)

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Thank you for joining us in learning about this exemplary organization that has delighted the lives of hundreds of thousands of children through the simple art of sharing a story.

warmly,

Lilo

To Learn More

For information about how to donate to United Through Reading or the United Through Reading Military Program, or to volunteer, visit www.unitedthroughreading.org.

Watch their heart-warming video at

http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/about/video.php

Or visit them on their Facebook page