We do a lot of charitable giving and community outreach at The Flying Pig, and our favorite programs, of course, are the ones that match families with books. There’s a wonderful organization we’ve worked with in various ways over the years, the Lund Family Center, which provides adoption services, teen pregnancy prevention resources, and residential facilities for pregnant and parenting young women and their children. This year, they approached us to partner in a blockbuster of an idea: getting books to incarcerated parents to record reading aloud to their children, who will then receive both the book and the recording to help keep them close to their parents while they’re separated.
This Storybook Program is part of a broader Lund Family program called Kids-a-Part, which “aims to keep families connected when a parent is incarcerated. By offering a variety of services, including education and advocacy, as well as direct services, such as parenting education, communication skills, financial assistance, and referrals to other community resources to children and families affected by a parent’s incarceration, we work to lessen the negative effects of separation during this challenging time in a family’s life.
“These donated books will help connect a child with his incarcerated parent. The parent will record themselves reading these books so that the child can have the comfort of hearing their parent’s voice at bedtime.”
One of our booksellers spearheaded this partnership with Lund, who sent us a wish list of classic picture books they’d love to share with the families. Kelly created beautiful paper hearts, each with a book title on it, and hung them over the cash register area for customers to choose. They buy the book at 20% off, and we give the books to Lund for distribution.
The Lund Center has done a terrific job letting its supporters know about the initiative, and we have had the most positive, marvelous response from our customers, both new and old. This kind of partnership is a win-win, and we hope it will catch on in more communities!