United Through Reading -- $33,0600 Uniting Military Families Through Read-Aloud Experiences
Program Description:
This grant significantly enhanced the emotional well-being of more than 20,000 service members, children, and spouses/caregivers by maintaining strong family connections during deployments. Furthermore, the focus on literacy and educational development provided children with essential resources to foster a love of reading, contributing to their cognitive and emotional growth despite the challenges of military life. United Through Reading provides Marine Corps families assigned to Camp Pendleton with the tools they need to establish and maintain a family story-time routine, even during periods of deployment.
During their lifetime, every military child will experience the deployment of a parent (sometimes both), multiple moves, new schools, saying good-bye to friends, and making new ones. Preparing these children for the challenges of military life is critical to resilient, healthy, and strong military families.
Results:
The activities and accomplishments of United Through Reading’s book and pre-deployment kit distribution on Camp Pendleton closely followed the proposed plan, and through various activities and measurable outcomes, the program successfully met and exceeded several objectives.
The program supported 58 events on Camp Pendleton, ensuring widespread participation and access to the program. The Mobile Story Station attended 15 of these events, providing service members with the opportunity to make 124 story-time recordings.
United Through Reading distributed 4,186 high-quality books to children in military families, promoting literacy, connection, and literacy development. Additionally, United Through Reading provided 1,500 literacy guides to the ASYMCA for distribution, offering families valuable information on the importance of building reading habits. Pre-deployment kits were distributed to Marine Corps service members at 10 events and to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), benefiting 22,000 Marines and Sailors.
Future Plans:
For 35 years, United Through Reading has supported military family connections through literacy. Their plans for this program are centered around sustainability and growth to ensure that they can continue to effectively meet military families’ needs. They will continue to enhance their partnerships with well-established military support organizations to improve their reach within the military community
