reach out and read

i’ve never done this before
i’ve donated $ or goods to multiple causes through others’ blogs: team in training contributions, diana’s blogger bake sale for haiti, and angela’s charity auction come to mind.

yet while i do donate myself (and actually welcome the reminder to do so on others’ sites!), i’m not super comfortable asking others for donations. it’s just so personal! but i am running a race this saturday for a cause that i truly believe in and one that touches MY patients every day, so i figured i’d throw it out there in case anyone was interested in giving a little something (even, like $2!). after all, it may actually make you happier.

the cause is reach out and read. in our community, this organization provides books for us to hand out at checkups for kids ages 6 mo – 5 years. the books are age appropriate and available in spanish or english, and are meant to bring reading into the homes of children who might otherwise get their only exposure to books through those projected onto the TV screen (sad but true). almost all of the families that i see in my clinic are low-income families with medicaid, and they always seem truly appreciative of the books given out, even if it is followed swiftly by a thigh-full of vaccines!

i am willing to bet that most of the readers of this blog were book nerds in elementary school (i know i was . . . HARDCORE) and we all know how much joy can be found between the pages of a well-written (and/or illustrated!) tome. i fully support causes that aim to improve physical nourishment for kids, but i think this one is important for the cognitive side of a healthy lifestyle — words on a page (hearty fuel for an active imagination) instead of mindless cartoons.

(and, as a bonus: NO FAST FOOD ADS on the pages of goodnight moon and the like!)

the event that i am doing is the great human race, a 5K in durham which is really cool in that there are a large number of nonprofit, community-oriented organizations to choose from for donations (on that long list, my cause is duke children’s reach out and read). i am not aiming for a PR, but i’m still excited to participate in this local event for a great cause.

if you are interested, here is my donation page! if you click through, you can donate any amount (it can be tiny!) securely through active.com.

thank you for your consideration!