Help Kids by Hitting a Book Together as a
Family
The Lunchables Team and First Book Launch the
Million Page Mission and Help Children Receive Much-Needed Books
Sept. 12 Reading is much morethan a hobby. It's a vital skill that
helps
kids reach their full potential both in and out of the classroom.
Research shows children who read regularly are more confident,
perform at a higher level academically and overall are much happier
people(1). Yet literacy continues to be a pressing issue facing
children nationwide. In fact, more than one-third of fourth graders
in the U.S. are reading at or below a basic reading level(2).
To help kids reach their reading potential and instill the love of
reading, Oscar Mayer Lunchables Lunch Combinations has teamed up
with the non-profit literacy organization, First Book, to create the
Lunchables Million Page Mission. For every parent who pledges to
read 100 pages together with their kids during the back-to-school
season, the Lunchables team will donate $1 to First Book. Research
shows that when parents read to their children, kids in turn are
stronger readers(3). This Mission will raise up to $10,000 to donate
books through First Book to kids who otherwise would not have them.
"The Lunchables team really believes in feeding kids' potential and
we
know how much reading can help them do that," shared Darin Dugan,
Senior Director of Marketing, Lunchables. "That's why we've teamed
with First Book and are asking families to join together to read and
provide other children with the tools they need to reach their
fullest potential."
Feeding Kids' Potential
Recent studies show that just one in every 300 children living in a
low-income neighborhood has access to an age-appropriate book(4).
With many children lacking the resources to develop reading skills,
First Book is committed to providing children in needy communities
with the opportunity to read and own their own books.
"By providing free books to children and families who need them, we
not
only increase literacy in our communities, but we also promote
creativity
and imagination," said Teresa Pipia, Vice President Strategic
Alliances,
First Book.
To make it even easier for families to read together, the Lunchables
team and celebrity mom and star of the CW's new "90210" series, Lori
Loughlin, have released a free children's book. Written for parents
and
children (ages 8 and older) to read together, the book, entitled
Adventures in the Stars tells the tale of three kids who attend
space training and must complete various missions together to earn
their astronaut-in-training badges. Loughlin wrote a special
foreword for the book, in which she shares the impact reading
together as a family has had on her life. "I've found there is no
more important activity for preparing my children to succeed than
reading, and I'm delighted to team up with the Lunchables team and
First Book to highlight the importance of reading together as a
family," said Lori Loughlin. The book is available for free download
on Lunchablesmom.com.
Getting Involved
Today, the Lunchables team and First Book, with the help of
celebrity
mom Lori Loughlin, are unveiling the Lunchables Million Page Mission
at a
special book signing event in Los Angeles. From September 12 through
October 31, 2008, parents can visit Lunchablesmom.com to join the
Mission and help bring reading into the lives of children across the
country. For more details and ideas to help make reading a fun
family activity and help others in the process, visit
Lunchablesmom.com or
FirstBook.org/Lunchables.com.
ABOUT KRAFT FOODS INC.
For more than a century, Kraft (http://www.kraft.com) has offered
delicious foods and beverages that fit the way consumers live.
Today, we are turning the brands that consumers have lived with for
years into brands they can't live without. Millions of times a day
in more than 150
countries, consumers reach for their favorite Kraft brands,
including nine
with revenues exceeding $1 billion: Kraft cheeses, dinners and
dressings; Oscar Mayer meats; Philadelphia cream cheese; Maxwell
House coffee; Nabisco cookies and crackers and its Oreo brand;
Jacobs coffees; Milka chocolates; and LU biscuits. Kraft is one of
the world's largest food and beverage companies with annual revenues
exceeding $37 billion, more than 100,000 employees and more than 180
manufacturing and processing facilities globally. The company's
stock (NYSE: KFT) is listed on the Standard & Poor's 100 and 500
indexes as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel
Sustainability Index.
ABOUT FIRST BOOK
First Book provides new books to children in need, addressing one of
the most important factors affecting literacy -- access to books. An
innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed
more
than 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities.
First Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada. For more
information about the nonprofit First Book please visit http://www.firstbook.org
or call 866-393-1222.
