Giving The Gift of Reading

Last week, while working at the newspaper, I was called to the local food pantry to cover a story. As volunteers stocked shelves with the latest donations, an 8-year-old boy and his slightly older sister delivered neatly wrapped packages. These gifts were to be distributed to pantry visitors who have children.

The siblings held a fundraiser and challenged national toy companies to meet their fundraising total. Voila! Success that benefited a lot of children from the area, providing a happy holiday for those in need.

The event got me thinking about the holiday season and the practice of handing out presents. Several family members and friends prefer a charitable donation be made in their names to a favorite charity in lieu of a gift, so I started wondering how a writer could combine a charitable donation and writing to promote literacy. A couple thoughts came to mind.

The library my mom works at has a yearly "friends of the library" campaign that runs through the holidays. The local paper prints a running list of those who contribute to the cause and the monies collected assist with book and material purchases. It's a win-win for the library and the person donating. More $ = more books = more people checking out the library. Plus, it's a charitable tax deduction for the person donating.

Or, why not give books to a charitable organization that encourages reading? Reading is Fundamental, as well as the World Literacy Foundation, came to my mind right away. Both provide reading materials and assist teaching people how to read. As luck would have it, today, Media Bistro printed a list of charities that promote reading / literacy.

As writers, not only should we be promoting our written product, we should also be promoting a love of reading and a need for literacy. Making a charitable gift donation is one way to encourage readers young and old to read and read and read and read . . .

Happy holidays from LuAnn Schindler. Read more of LuAnn's work at her website.