From our humble beginnings supporting Sailors and Marines at the 32nd Street Naval Base in San Diego to supporting every military branch around the world through multiple delivery channels, including the United Through Reading App, United Through Reading strengthens military families’ literacy, emotional bonds, and well-being through the power of reading together at every age, no matter the distance.
Our program, United Through Reading, begins to deploy onboard Navy ships serving Sailors and Marines.
We enter into partnership with the USO to expand our reach to all branches of service around the world.
First Lady Laura Bush serves as the Honorary Chair of our Military Program.
Our organization’s name officially changes to United Through Reading.
We’re featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s “Cheers to You” episode.
Target sponsors our inaugural Starter Kit with books, DVDs, and bookplates to send to UTR recording sites.
We are awarded the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.
UTR reaches our one millionth beneficiary and receives the National Book Foundation’s Innovation in Reading Award.
We accepted an invitation to the Joining Forces initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.
UTR launches our inaugural STEM the Summer Slide campaign, encouraging literacy and interest in STEM subjects.
We receive the American Prize of the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program.
UTR surpasses two million beneficiaries and receives the inaugural Community Service Hero Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
We launch our 40 Million Stories Campaign with Reader’s Digest Foundation as the Founding Sponsor to highlight the number of missed stories by military children each year.
With support from BAE Systems, UTR launches the first Mobile Story Station in San Diego to serve military communities where they are, at work and in the community.
We introduced the United Through Reading App to connect more service members with their families during times of military separation. Anytime. Anywhere.
UTR continued to connect military families through reading, adding ebooks, improvements to the UTR App, and drive-thru events with partners.
Dr. Biden read “Night Catch” alongside US Army Staff Sergeant Sharon Rogers for her son, Nathan, in honor of Mother’s Day.
Thanks to support from BAE Systems, the second Mobile Story Station starts to serve military families on the East Coast.
During Month of the Military Child, we launch the Book for the Military Child, a book that unites and celebrates military children across the globe through their shared experiences. Our inaugural choice was The Kissing Hand, which perfectly captures something all military kids can relate to—the need to stay connected to a loved one, even when you can’t be with them.
We launch Operation Storytime, our campaign to connect #TheNextMillion military families in record time with the help of 5-Star Partner Reader’s Digest Foundation.
The foundation of Operation Storytime is its four missions:
