“Philanthropy and giving to others are both very important to Richard and me and to instill it in Liam at an early age is one of our goals.  Liam’s first birthday party was the perfect place to start. We didn’t see a need for an abundance of toys and we knew people would feel uncomfortable not doing anything, so instead, we asked for donations made in his honor to United Through Reading. We chose UTR  because we also know the importance of reading to children and encouraging literacy at an early age. ”

Teacher Librarian, Ms. Lisa Straubinger, shared the following about T. Baldwin Demarest School in Old Tappan, NJ, “Read to Make A Difference” program in support of United Through Reading. “Encouraging a love of reading is at the heart of what we do in our school community. We also want students to see that by doing something they love they can help others.  Through an impressive amount of reading our students helped a lot of military families share a love of reading as well.”

For the last three year’s United Through Reading’s Trustee and Vice President and Treasurer at Carter’s, Inc., Sean McHugh and his friends and colleagues have used the Atlanta Tough Mudder to fundraise for service members and their families.

This is what Sean had to say about the experience, “Tough Mudder isn’t about how fast you can cross the finish line. It’s about pushing yourself. It’s about teamwork, camaraderie, and for my team and me, it is also about giving back. It is a life-changing experience, made even sweeter knowing the number of military children who could still have a bedtime story read by a deployed loved one because of our hard work and persistence.”