A San Diego-based non-profit organization that helps connect military families around the world through reading was honored with a big award Friday in Fort Meyer, Virginia.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation presented United Through Reading (UTR) with its “Community Service Hero Award” in recognition for the support the organization provides to U.S. military families.
The non-profit’s mission is to unite military families through reading, even if those families are physically apart.
UTR offers military service members the chance to be video recorded while reading books to their children at home. The non-profit organization has hundreds of locations worldwide where service members can record themselves reading books aloud for their children to view on a DVD at home.
The program aims to connect military parents to their children while encouraging literacy. Last year, the organization distributed more than 10,000 books this way to military children around the globe.
“Hero Award” in hand, UTR’s CEO Sally Ann Zoll said she’s extremely grateful for the honors received at Friday’s ceremony.
“To be in the presence of our nation's most decorated and honored veterans, and to have those veterans believe in the mission of United Through Reading, like we believe in our mission, it's incredible,” said Zoll.
According to UTR’s website, more than 80 percent of participating military families reported that their kids will watch a recorded story daily – up to 250 times during a parent’s 10-month deployment. Parents also reported a decrease in their children’s anxiety about the deployment and an increase in feelings of connectedness.
To date, almost two million service member families have participated in this program.
