With the help of generous donors, University Medical Center raised $3,450 for its Reach Out and Read Program during The University of Alabama’s first Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign on Nov. 28. Twenty-nine donors contributed to the Reach Out and Read Program Support Fund.
GivingTuesday is a global movement that seeks to empower nonprofit organizations
UMC’s Reach Out and Read Program, which serves more than 10,000 children each year, is a partnership with Reach Out and Read Alabama, a program of the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The program helps families and communities encourage early literacy skills for children, particularly those in underserved communities, by incorporating books into pediatric care.
On average, two-thirds of low-income families cannot provide books for their young children, and of the children cared for at UMC locations, more than 67% fall below the federal poverty line. For families at UMC, the Reach Out and Read Program might be the only chance for their children to have access to books.
Through the Reach Out and Read Program, UMC’s Pediatric and Family Medicine clinics in Tuscaloosa are helping to close the literacy gap by providing books to take home for every child 6 months to 5 years of age at well-child visits.