United Through Reading has recently received its fifth consecutive Four-Star rating from Charity Navigator, the nation’s leading charity rating agency according to Kiplinger’s Financial Magazine, Forbes and Business Week.

In 2011, Charity Navigator evaluated 5500 charities-ten times the number of charities that any other rating agency evaluates. Charity Navigator has always assigned ratings based on financial health, but recently added a second dimension to their evaluation: accountability and transparency.

This additional criteria set decreased the number of Four-Star ratings by 20% this year. United Through Reading was not among them. Our Board of Trustees takes seriously its fiduciary responsibility and has policies and practices in place that provide for exceptional accountability and outstanding transparency in governance. Only 4% of charities have received five consecutive four-star ratings from Charity Navigator. We’re proud to be among them.

On Saturday May 26 at the USS Midway Museum, San Diego, the American Freedom Foundation will hold its third annual American Freedom  Festival to celebrate the veterans and men and women of America’s armed forces.   United Through Reading will be one of six charities selected to benefit from the event.

The 3rd annual American Freedom Festival San Diego presented by SKYDEX and CareerBuilder will be held on Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the USS MIDWAY MUSEUM featuring the legendary THREE DOG NIGHT with special guests, WORLD CLASSIC ROCKERS.

This annual concert will celebrate our veterans and men and women of Americas armed forces at the Party of the Year aboard the USS Midway while benefiting various organizations that serve and support veterans, active duty military, wounded warriors and their families throughout SanDiego County. In addition, the American Freedom Foundation announces its partnership with CareerBuilder to create the 1st annual Veterans Career Hiring Event to be held earlier in the day at the USS Midway Museum from 9am 3pm.

This exciting new addition to the American Freedom Festival San Diego will bring together government service agencies and major companies from throughout San Diego County and the Southwest to profile their services and provide employment opportunities for our veterans. Attending veterans will have the chance to talk with employers, submit qualifications, and even participate in job interviews on the spot. Attendance at the job fair is free and open to veterans and active duty military. Find Out More

United Through Reading Supports First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative by Doubling Commitment to Army and National Guard by 2013

About Joining Forces

The First Lady and Dr. Biden have met with military families, learned about their successes and challenges, and made it their priority to support them. Joining Forces is a comprehensive national initiative to mobilize all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned.

Joining Forces:

• Brings attention to the unique needs and strength of America’s military families. 
• Inspires, educates, and sparks action from all sectors of our society – citizens, communities, businesses, non-profits, faith based institutions, philanthropic organizations, and government – to ensure veterans and military families have the opportunities, resources, and support they have earned.
• Showcases the skills, experience, and dedication of America’s veterans and military spouses to strengthen our nation’s communities.
• Creates greater connections between the American public and the military.

In this ongoing effort, they’re highlighting issues that are of special importance to the military families they have met with across the country, including the areas of employment, education, and wellness.

Find Out More

Thanks so much to Amy Dickinson for spotlighting United Through Reading in her “Ask Amy”

“I am entranced by the work of this organization, which manages to unite deployed military parents with their children at home — through DVDs of the parents reading aloud from favorite books, which the child at home can read from, with mom or dad.“   [read complete article]

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, poses for a picture with students from White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, VA., at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2011. Biden hosted a holiday party for the students to raise awareness of military families and the challenges they face. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2011 – Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, invited about 25 elementary school students, a few teachers — and one special guest in Afghanistan — to a military-themed holiday party in their home at the U.S. Naval Observatory here today.

Throughout the party, Biden spotlighted the importance of military family support for the children — a fourth-grade class from nearby White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, Va.

After greeting each of the children — all dressed in their holiday best — at the door, she invited them to join her around the Christmas tree in her living room for a discussion about her own experiences as a military mom.

Biden held up a framed picture of her son, Army Maj. Beau Biden of the Delaware National Guard, with his young son, Hunter, in his arms. The picture, she told the children, was taken the day he returned from a yearlong deployment in Iraq. “I know what it’s like to have someone in your family who is deployed,” she said.

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, joins children for a reading of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” by Army Maj. James Blain, who is deployed in Afghanistan, at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2011. Blain’s son, Jimmy, was among the children at the party. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez

She then asked Army Col. Rebecca Porter, a clinical psychologist from the Army Surgeon General’s Office, to talk to the children — mostly from nonmilitary families — about the impact deployment has on kids, especially during the holidays, and how students can support military families in their community.

Biden then kicked off her heels and joined the children on the floor in front of the tree to make holiday cards for deployed troops. The card-making event was sponsored by the American Red Cross’ Holiday Mail for Heroes program, which collects and distributes holiday cards to service members, veterans and their families around the world.

But the event’s highlight, especially for one of the students, was the holiday book reading in the next room.

Army Maj. James Blain, deployed in Afghanistan since June, appeared on screen to read the book “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” to his 9-year-old son, Jimmy, and his classmates. Blain earlier recorded the book-reading through United Through Reading, an organization that enables deployed service members to video-record themselves reading books to their children. Deployed troops can read from more than 270 recording stations around the globe, according to an organization fact sheet.

Army Maj. James Blain reads the book, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” as a student follows along in the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2011. Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, hosted a holiday party for children from White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, Va., to raise awareness of the need for military family support. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez

Jimmy listened intently. He’s been in touch with his dad, but mostly over the phone. There’s nothing like seeing him face to face, he said after his dad finished the book.

His mom, Tina Blain, who attended the party with all four of her children, agreed. “Having the DVDs has been a huge bonus for us because we can see Daddy whenever we want.”

Approaching the holidays without Dad is tough on the children, she added. “To see him so positive and so up going into the holidays is good for them,” she said.

Biden also noted the importance of programs such as United Through Reading, which recently pledged to double its commitment to Army and National Guard families in the next two years. Since the program began in 1989, more than 1 million beneficiaries have been served, a news release said.

“It means a lot to children and helps them stay connected with their moms or their dads” while they’re deployed, Biden told American Forces Press Service. “I know in my own family, my son read books to our grandchildren and they loved just hearing their dad’s voice.”

Biden noted that Jimmy’s parents were worried that their 2-year-old son, Matthew, would forget what his dad looked like. This program, however, has set their minds at ease, she said, citing Matthew’s reaction when his father appeared on screen at the party. As soon as he saw his father, Matthew, perched on his mom’s lap, called out, “Daddy, Daddy!”

4th graders from White Oaks Elementary School in Burke, VA make cards for deployed service members in the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2011. Jimmy’s father, Army Maj. James Blain, is deployed in Afghanistan. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez

Biden said the party was intended to raise awareness of military families and the need to support them, which also is the aim of the Joining Forces campaign, a military-support initiative First Lady Michelle Obama and Biden started earlier this year. It’s important for people without a loved one in the military to understand the military experience, she noted.

Particularly around the holidays, “it’s important we remember and commit to an act of kindness,” she said, whether it’s taking cookies to a military family, bringing them dinner, or packing care packages. Biden said she and her family recently packed Christmas stockings for deployed service members together.

“We are ending the war in Iraq … but we still have many, many [service members] deployed in Afghanistan,” Biden said. “We have to remember them and be thankful for their service and what they’ve done for us and this country.”