News

On November 14, 2010, United Through Reading will once again host the Storybook Ball at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine.  After a smashing success in 2009 with our inaugural event, the Board, staff and volunteers are excited to be back at the planning table for another fantastic event. 

The 2010 Storybook Ball will no doubt be another extraordinary experience, raising funds to support our programming here in San Diego and around the world.  In 2009, United Through Reading was able to serve nearly 300,000 beneficiaries, an astounding 150% increase over the prior year.  This was made possible only by the generous and consistent support of our donors, volunteers and Board.  For this, we are grateful.  The Storybook Ball, and all who participated in it, are part of that success, and for that, we are also grateful.   

We hope you will join us this year, on November 14, 2010 for another celebration.  The Storybook Ball, a black tie dinner and fundraiser to show our deepest appreciation for the philanthropists who support us and our continued commitment to our beneficiaries worldwide, is sure to be another don’t-miss.   

Your participation, through attendance at the gala, a donation to our auction, or through underwriting or sponsorship, will go far to help us reach more deployed military servicemen and women and their families, more vulnerable, at-risk children whose parents are incarcerated, and more grandchildren separated from generational love and learning offered by their grandparents.  

For more information on how to purchase tickets, how to make a donation to the auction, or to inquire about sponsorship or underwriting, please contact our Development Staff at 858-481-7323 ext. 210 or via email at victoria@unitedthroughreading.org.  

If you missed the 2009 Storybook Ball, here are some highlights:

United Through Reading celebrated 20 years of service at the Storybook Ball on November 15, 2009.  The gala fundraising event, chaired by Carol Raiter, was a smashing success honoring founder Betty Mohlenbrock for her vision and unfailing dedication to it; a hero, LT Florence Choe, whose work in Afghanistan served her country, her fellow servicemen and women, and United Through Reading; and Target, our title sponsor, whose belief in our work, commitment to military families, and unending support has made all the difference. 

More than 300 friends of United Through Reading gathered at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine to enjoy good food, fine wines, a stunning silent and raucous live auction, along with moving tributes to the three honorees. 

Reba Dominsky, Director, Target Community Relations was on hand to honor our guests and to celebrate the success of United Through Reading.  Ms. Dominsky honored our military family participants for their commitment to our nation and their families at home.

It was our privilege to honor LT Florence Choe, one of United Through Reading's most dedicated volunteers.  She discovered United Through Reading at the USO at Bagram Airbase where she recorded stories for her three year old daughter, Kristin.  LT Choe then worked to bring the United Through Reading Military Program to Camp Mike Spann, where she was stationed in Afghanistan, so that more deployed parents could read stories to their children at home.  LT Choe was killed by an Afghani insurgent in March of 2009. 

A memorable and touching highlight of the 2009 Storybook Ball was a lively bidding war over the Harborside Storybook Dollhouse - a custom-built 13 room collector's dollhouse.  The dollhouse went for an amazing $21,000 to Scott Celley, VP for External Affairs at TriWest Healthcare Alliance.   Mr. Celley then took the stage to present the dollhouse as a gift to Kristin Choe on behalf of TriWest.  This gesture  was met with a standing ovation and tremendous surprise from the Choe family. 

TriWest's posthumous presentation of the Angel Award to LT Choe followed next.  Her husband, LCDR Jay Choe, USN, thanked United Through Reading for making possible the lasting connection that Kristin will have with her mother in the DVDs she sent home from Afghanistan prior to her death.  LCDR Choe also honored founder Betty Mohlenbrock for her vision and bold determination to see it through.

Thanks to all who had a part in making the Storybook Ball 2009 an amazing chapter in United Through Reading's story.

 

 

 

 

Photo © Gates Photography