Arizona Tribune - Reach Out and Read Chosen as Only U.S.-Based Nonprofit for New York Times Holiday Impact Prize

Pulitzer Prize winner and philanthropist Nicholas Kristof spotlights nonprofits tackling some of society's "most pressing challenges" and helps raises millions for honored organizations

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof just awarded Reach Out and Read the 2024 Holiday Impact Prize in the New York Times! The national nonprofit, which serves 4.6 million children and families by incorporating early literacy and relationships into pediatric care, is the only domestic organization honored this year.

The Holiday Impact Prize, created by Kristof and supported by Focusing Philanthropy, raises awareness of and drives funding to organizations making a difference in the key issues Kristof covers: health, education, climate, human rights, and women's rights, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Since 2019, the Holiday Impact Prize and the C-19 Impact Initiative have raised more than $42 million and recruited an estimated 4,600 volunteers for the selected organizations.

As a winner, Reach Out and Read will receive $50,000 and be at the center of a critical fundraising drive. Each year, Kristof compiles this "holiday giving guide" to bridge the gap between readers who want to help but don't know how and the heroic organizations that desperately need resources but may not be known by donors.

"By 'prescribing' books during pediatric visits - and giving the books away for free - Reach Out and Read ushers children onto the magic carpet of reading at an early age for an incredibly inexpensive cost," Kristof said. "The question isn't, how can we afford to help these kids? It's how can we afford not to help them?"

By partnering with clinicians in all 50 states, Reach Out and Read leverages well-child visits, using children's books and shared reading, to support parents and caregivers in building language and literacy skills and strengthening healthy relationships with infants and young children. The nonprofit recently announced a goal to reach 10 million children - half of the U.S. population from birth to 5 - by 2030. Reach Out and Read is working to ensure all children, regardless of race, family structure, or socioeconomic background, have access to their evidence-based model to support brain development and Early Relational Health. This is something Kristof has been vocally supportive of for years.

"Too often we invest in our own children but not in children as a whole. So, the kids who most need help don't get it until they show up in kindergarten or first grade, when most of brain development has already occurred," Kristof said.

Reach Out and Read works directly with pediatric care providers to share the lifelong benefits of daily shared reading, starting at birth. And that guidance is sorely needed: Only a third (37 percent) of U.S. babies - and barely a quarter (27 percent) of those in low-income households - are read to every day.

"Nicholas Kristof's recognition is a testament to the unique power of Reach Out and Read: used shared reading to build a world where every child has the relationships and resources to learn and thrive," said Reach Out and Read CEO Marty Martinez. "With the support of Kristof and his readers, we can not only raise awareness about the life-changing benefits of reading with young children every day but also expand our work to transform pediatric care, giving millions of under-resourced children a better start to life."

Thanks to the generosity of the Overdeck Family Foundation, the Einhorn Collaborative, the Hearst Foundations, and an anonymous donor, the first $400,000 raised for Reach Out and Read through the Holiday Impact Prize will be matched dollar for dollar.

Reach Out and Read is one of three organizations chosen for the 2024 fundraising drive. They are joined by Fistula Foundation, which provides free surgeries for women with childbirth injuries in Africa and Asia; and Muso, which brings life-saving health care door-to-door in underserved communities across sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to fundraising, the Holiday Impact Prize also provides a volunteer opportunity. This year's honoree is Crisis Text Line, which provides 24/7 mental health support via text, ensuring no one faces a crisis alone.

"These nonprofits are at the forefront of tackling some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and it's a privilege to play a role in empowering their work," Kristof said. "Each donation - and every volunteer - is a catalyst for meaningful change. By providing this support, we are helping to create opportunities, uplift communities, and foster resilience where it's needed most."

Learn more about Reach Out and Read and contribute to their meaningful work at reachoutandread.org/holidayimpact. More information about all four nonprofits and the 2024 prize is at KristofImpact.org. Don't miss Kristof's holiday giving column in the New York Times here.

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About Reach Out and Read: As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Reach Out and Read leverages the near-universal reach of the pediatric well-child visit to support caregivers in fostering healthy relationships with their young children through shared reading. In FY24, Reach Out and Read served more than 4.6 million children and provided 7.7 million free books across 9.3 million well-child visits. More than 70 percent of the children Reach Out and Read serves are from low-income families.

The only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Reach Out and Read serves children in every state across the U.S., through 6,500 clinics and the expertise of 39,000 clinicians. Recent research in a peer-reviewed study published in Academic Pediatrics confirms the program's effectiveness in increasing the frequency of parental reading, which builds early language and literacy skills and strengthens family relationships.

About Focusing Philanthropy: Focusing Philanthropy, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that finds and funds high-impact, scalable programs around the world, provides the platform for this initiative by processing readers' contributions, monitoring and reporting on results, and replenishing credit card transaction costs of donations made on KristofImpact.org so that 100 cents on the dollar will support the winning organizations.

SOURCE: Reach Out and Read

H.Thompson--AT