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Molly Schutzenberger delivers a donation to
United Through Reading in San Diego. |
On September 26, 2011, Molly Schutzenberger, Honorary State President of the
California State Society Children of the American Revolution (C.S.S.C.A.R.), delivered a $5000 check to the San Diego-based non-profit organization United Through Reading (UTR).
This donation is a combination of funds including a matched grant from the
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and a full year of fundraising by members of the C.S.S.C.A.R.
“United Through Reading helps USOs, ships, and other military units create a special library and recording area where deployed parents can read books to their children. The recording is sent home to their children, who can watch it at bedtime or whenever they want to see their mom or dad,” says Ms. Schutzenberger. “For the service member, it helps morale because the parents feel as if they are staying emotionally connected. Plus, it helps cultivate a love of reading in the children. My family read aloud together when I was growing up, so it was especially meaningful for me.” Molly adds. “For military families, year-long deployments, sometimes into a war zone, create incredible stress. Young children may not even recognize their parent when they return. United Through Reading really makes a big difference.”
In the process of working to support deployed parents and their children, Molly became aware of another group of military dependents who receive help from UTR. These are children deeply affected by the incarceration of a parent in the brig. They are often confused about their parents’ absence and may wonder whether their parents care about them. Many experience problems in school, act out in socially undesirable ways, or are sad or withdrawn. The military brigs are continually in need of books to provide for video-recorded reading which can then be sent along with the DVD to their children. Volunteers train incarcerated parents about the literacy needs of their children and how they can contribute to their child’s success through a positive reading relationship with them. Children will see their parents reading with love and enthusiasm, in many cases for the first time ever.
Linda Stufflebean, C.S.S.C.A.R. Honorary Senior State President, worked with Ms. Schutzenberger, as well as Elizabeth Swanay-O’Neal, C.S.S.C.A.R. Senior State President, and Jean Mollenkopf, Regent of the
Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter DAR in Santa Maria, to apply for an educational grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). The C.S.S.C.A.R. was awarded a $925 matching grant so that United Through Reading could purchase a one-year supply of new children’s books, DVDs, and mailers specifically for the Brig Program.
Regarding her chapter’s participation in the project, Mrs. Mollenkopf said, "It was a great honor for the Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter DAR to be part of this meaningful patriotic endeavor to help build a lasting bridge between deployed veterans, military incarcerated, and their children at home through United Through Reading. We feel blessed to have been the DAR chapter engaged in the original grant process along with C.A.R."
"I want to thank Mrs. Mollenkopf and the NSDAR for getting behind our effort to raise money for UTR," says Ms. Schutzenberger. “It is a great partnership of the C.S.S.C.A.R. and the NSDAR to make a difference for military families going through terrible circumstances. We are helping at-risk children to become literate and find success at school, which means a better future for those children and a better future for our country."
In 2011, the NSDAR awarded over $180,000 in grants to support historic, patriotic, and educational projects all over the United States. For information about DAR Special Projects Grants, please see
http://dar.org/natsociety/specialprojectsgrants.cfm.
For information about the Children of the American Revolution, please visit
http://california-car.org. To learn about the work of United Through Reading, see
http://www.unitedthroughreading.org
Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal
