Mark Your Calendars!
Upcoming Barnes & Noble Book Fair in Support of Reach Out and Read CT!
Making a purchase from Barnes & Noble? From April 25 - May 1, Reach Out and Read Connecticut will receive a percentage of sales from all in-store (at ANY B&N) and online purchases when Bookfair ID 11579653 is used at checkout. To print our Bookfair ID voucher, click here.
To kick off the bookfair, please join us at the Barnes & Noble in Canton, CT on April 25 for Local Author Day. Meet some great authors and support Reach Out and Read Connecticut!
For more information, click
here and here.
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Thank You to Our Recent Supporters!
 We would like to thank the Pitney Bowes Foundation for their most recent donation of $2,500 to Reach Out and Read Connecticut in support of our Hartford programs. We greatly appreciate their long term partnership and support of Reach Out and Read's mission!
 NewAlliance Foundation very recently awarded a $10,000 grant in support of our work in New Haven. This marks the third consecutive year NewAlliance has partnered with us and we are thrilled about their commitment to our work.
Thank you very much to all of our supporters! |
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Holiday Book Drive Donations Top 11,000 New Books!
Thank you to both Barnes & Noble and Cover 2 Cover for their tremendous efforts gathering new books for our programs. The generosity of their patrons has provided Connecticut with over 11,000 new books including classics like Goodnight Moon and Five Little Monkeys.
Here are the totals by location:
Barnes & Noble
-Buckland Hills Mall: 5,188 Books
-The Shoppes at Farmington Valley: 2,004 Books
-North Haven: 1,935 Books
-Stamford Town Center: 1,902 Books
-Yale University Book Store: 19 Books
Cover 2 Cover
Bradley International Airport: 3,439 Books
We greatly appreciate the support of our wonderful partners! Thank you! |
Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
The PAS annual meeting is being held on April 25-28 in San Diego, CA. Dr. Robert Needlman, co-founder of Reach Out and Read, chairs the Literacy SIG every year so we would like to know which of our Connecticut providers might be going to PAS. This year the session title is "Literacy Development Programs in Primary Care" and it will be taking place on Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Please pass this information along to all of your providers and let us know if anyone is planning on attending. |
UCONN Men's Basketball Players Read to Children at CCMC
 Dr. Cathy Wiley with Members of the UCONN Men's Basketball Team
On February 27, 2015, Reach Out and Read Connecticut's Medical Director, Dr. Cathy Wiley, was joined by some of the men from the UCONN basketball team. The men took pictures and spent time reading to children at CT Children's Medical Center, Primary Care Center in Hartford.
Go UCONN!
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Connecticut Community Foundation and Reach Out and Read in Greater Waterbury
Around since 1923, Connecticut Community Foundation, originally founded as the Waterbury Foundation, is the oldest community foundation in the state. Today they serve 21 towns throughout Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills.
With grant support from Connecticut Community Foundation's LitLinks Program, Reach Out and Read has partnered with area physicians who "prescribe" books and encourage families to read together. Take a minute and see here what the CT Community Foundation has to say about Reach Out and Read. |
Pediatric Associates of CT P.C. Spreads Holiday Cheer with Donations to Reach Out and Read
 Pediatric Associates of CT Staff
Every year, the providers at the Pediatric Associates of CT P.C. in Waterbury have participated in a holiday gift exchange during the winter season. Since they are a fairly new Reach Out and Read program, one of the pediatricians suggested that, in lieu of the gift exchange, each provider would donate to Reach Out and Read. The funds contributed would go to purchasing books for the children served by Pediatric Associates in the Greater Waterbury area. Watching the children's eyes light up every time they received a book at their well-child visits and parents' excitement about the new program made this decision very easy and rewarding. That's a gift that keeps on giving! |
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Reach Out and Read Connecticut Spring 2015 Newsletter
Serving 40,064 Connecticut Children
in 71 Clinical Locations
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Executive Director's Note
Happy spring! It has been a long, snowy winter and I know everyone is looking forward to the warm weather. I, for one, will not miss clearing the snow off my car every day.
As usual, there is much going on here in Connecticut with Reach Out and Read. Our newsletters are growing large and we appreciate you taking the time to read through all of it. Given that, I will keep my note short, simply mentioning the importance of our state funding bill, Senate Bill 209 (please see the full article below). If nothing else, please help us to secure state funding for the important work that we do every day for our Connecticut children and families. If you could take five minutes to call State Senator Beth Bye, State Representative Toni Walker and your own state legislators, we would greatly appreciate it. You simply need to tell them who you are and ask them to please support Senate Bill 209 / File#29. It's quick and easy, yet it makes a huge difference when it comes to finding money to support new programs.
Thank you very much for your time and your support of Reach Out and Read! Enjoy our newsletter.
Kind regards, 
Chris
Contact Information:
Senator Beth Bye: 860-240-8585,
To find your state legislators click here.
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Rocking the Road to Read with Bob's Outreach
In celebration of National Read Across America Day and the 111th birthday of Dr. Seuss (author Theodor Seuss Geisel), Bob's Discount Furniture partnered with Reach Out and Read to launch "Rocking the Road to Read with Bob's Outreach," a new year-long initiative to increase early literacy by bringing smiles and books to
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Cathy Poulin, Tish Rabe, Christine Garber
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local children's hospitals.
To support the initiative, Bob's Outreach presented a $10,000 check to Reach Out and Read Connecticut Executive Director, Christine Garber, at the CCMC School in New Britain. The school, affiliated with the Connecticut Children's Medical Center, provides comprehensive special education for students from age five to 21 who require intensive intervention due to severe emotional, behavioral, cognitive, developmental and/or learning problems.
At the "Rocking the Road" kick-off at Connecticut Children's, best-selling children's book author and Reach Out and Read Connecticut Advisory Board member Tish Rabe read aloud from Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You!, one of her recently updated books in the Cat in The Hat Learning Library
 series of rhyming science books for early readers. After the reading, children at the school received their own new copy of the book, donated by Bob's Outreach. Bob's also donated copies of Rabe's newest book, Love You, Hug You, Read to You, to the Reach Out and Read program at Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
As part of the new "Rocking the Road" initiative, Bob's Outreach and Reach Out and Read plan to visit at least six more hospitals and clinics throughout the year for additional book readings and giveaway events. "We hope to not only bring smiles to these children's faces, but share our love for reading," says Cathy Poulin, public relations director for Bob's Discount Furniture.
"We're so grateful to both Bob's and to Reach Out and Read for allowing us to experience first-hand the
magic of Tish Rabe and her books," says CCMC School Principal Patricia Gerrity. "Events like these are very meaningful to our students,
and help us to create the kind of supportive yet stimulating environment that allows them to realize their full potential."
We are thrilled to have been a part of such a wonderful event. Thank you to all involved! Click here for more great photos from the event and here to see us on the cover of The Hartford Courant!
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Senate Bill 209 / File #29
An Act Concerning Funding For the Reach Out and Read Program
Please call Senator Beth Bye, Representative Toni Walker and your own state legislators, asking them to pass Senate Bill 209 / File#29!
Contact Information:
To find your state legislators click here.
Earlier this year, Senate Bill 209 was introduced by the Connecticut General Assembly's Committee on Children for the funding of Reach Out and Read through the State of Connecticut. Should this funding bill pass, it will benefit every Reach Out and Read program in the state and allow us to expand into other practices that desperately need our program.
Thursday February 5, 2015 was the Public Hearing for the bill at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Reach Out and Read was well represented by ten individuals who came to support the bill along with over 50 written and submitted testimonies! The Committee was very impressed by the outpouring of support for our bill and felt it was an indication of how important our work is and how committed our providers are.
You can see the testimony given at the public hearing here. The testimony starts at 4:31:20 with Reach Out and Read Connecituct Executive Director, Christine Garber, Reach Out and Read Regional Program Coordinator, Meg Blomberg, and Reach Out and Read pediatrician and Connecticut Advisory Board member, Dr. Cynthia Roque of Pediatric Associates of CT, P.C. You will want to watch Dr. Roque's testimony. Representative Urban said it was the best testimony of the day.......and the legislators heard a lot of testimony that day!! To see all the written testimony submitted, click here and then click on "Committee on Children."
We are incredibly grateful that the Children's Committee unanimously voted to approve funding for Reach Out and Read. Our funding bill is currently with the co-chairs of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Beth Bye and Representative Toni Walker, who will decide if it will go to the Appropriations Committee for a full vote. Please call the co-chairs and your own state legislators today to help ensure this important bill is passed! Thank you.
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Looking for a Great Gift? Look No Further!
Need an end-of-the-year teacher gift? Have an upcoming graduation, wedding, retirement, anniversary? Need a birthday gift or a new baby gift? We can help! Our Magical Milestones are the perfect gift AND 100% of the proceeds go back to Reach Out and Read CT!
Magical Milestones are custom photo gifts created by Dr. Seuss author Tish Rabe. Rabe writes a poem about your special someone/occasion and pairs it with a photo you provide--the result is a gorgeous gift, signed by Rabe and ready for you to print, frame and wrap. See what FoxCT has to say about these magical gifts.
For more samples of our work click here. To order your Magical Milestone click here. |
Liberty Bank Foundation and Bob's Discount Furniture Attend Launch of New Reach Out and Read Program
Thanks to the generous funding from the Liberty Bank Foundation and the work of the Bristol Early Childhood Alliance, Pediatric Care Centerin Bristol has become one of our newest Reach Out and Read programs in Connecticut.
On January 13, 2015, Chandler Howard, Liberty Bank President and CEO, and Cathy Poulin, Public Relations/Outreach Director, Bob's Discount Furniture, visited Pediatric Care Center to celebrate the launch of the new Reach Out and Read program. They were there not only to cheer on the staff, but also to
practice what doctors preach by reading to a group of eager young patients. Mr. Howard read Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, counting down as the monkeys fell. He was even game to play along when an excited young boy handed him a second, unplanned book to read.
The children then enjoyed an exciting rendition of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. read by Ms. Poulin. The Children were on their feet
along with every "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." But that was not the end of the excitement. When Ms. Poulin was done reading, she let everyone in on a secret. She handed them a $1,000 gift card for Dr. Adeyinka of Pediatric Care Center to purchase new furniture for the practice at Bob's Discount Furniture!
A big thank-you to everyone who made this day possible! Fun was had by the children and adults alike. Read more about this great event in The Bristol Press and see a news clip that aired on Channel 3, WFSB. Channel 8, WTNH also did a live shot early that morning.
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Reach Out and Read CT Donates Books for Study
The Intergenerational Blood Pressure Study is a 5 year research study funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research and led by the Yale University School of Nursing and The Consultation Center at the Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry in partnership with Head Start programs across CT. Read more about their study here.
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