Name Bubbles Supports Literacy Across America

Though I live thousands of miles from my hometown, I make a point to visit once or twice a year and to catch up with dear friends and family members. It is during these precious moments that I hear about their lives, children and very often, their work.  For many years, one of the amazing women in my circle of friends, Lisa, has been the Principal of a public elementary school in a pretty rough part of town. She has talked about the challenges that her students face and how she and her team of teachers have worked to overcome budget shortages, foster care placements, and have helped students’ families during difficult financial and emotional times. To her students, she is Principal Hall at Bell Avenue Elementary School; to me she is Lisa from the dorm room down the hall and I am very proud of her.

During my visit home last fall, she mentioned a reading program she and the teachers at her school wanted to implement. She’d lined up volunteers and the city was helping but she needed money to buy the books. My wheels started turning; I had not identified a non-profit or cause for the Name Bubbles Giving Program for 2012 – in my mind, literacy or more specifically, raising awareness and helping to provide books for underserved children would be a wonderful commitment from Name Bubbles. That’s how it started.

I’m pleased to say that my friend Lisa, or Principal Hall, will be launching her school-wide reading program today – just in time for Read Across America Day.  She told me that she is holding an assembly, a kickoff party of sorts, and she will be presenting an over-sized $5,000 dollar check from Name Bubbles for the purchase of the new books. We are both very excited and believe the school's new books and help from the volunteers will have a positive, lasting impact on the students lives.

In addition to the reading program beginning at Bell Avenue Elementary School in Sacramento today, Name Bubbles has launched its Giving Program for 2012. We have committed an initial $10,000 dollar donation to a national organization dedicated to delivering free books and literacy resources to children and families who need them most. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States.

In our own effort to raise awareness about literacy and the fundamentals of reading, the company created a sheet of eight (8) personalized learning-themed labels for young children that are available for purchase with every label order. We know that building awareness makes a difference and are very excited about our Giving Program and RIF’s mission, to motivate young children to read. By working with children, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life, RIF can address the organization’s highest priority; reaching underserved children from birth to age 8.

Be sure to stay tuned and watch for the many wonderful programs Reading Is Fundamental has planned for 2012.   

Sincerely,
Michelle Brandriss