Do you believe that angels walk among us? I can’t speak with authority on this, since cartoonists are not often consulted on deep subjects, but if they do, Betty Mohlenbrock might be one of them.
Betty is the founder of the insanely successful nonprofit called United Through Reading. It provides the equipment and method for deployed troops to read children’s books to their kids. Their children can watch their deployed parents as they read to them, allowing them to bridge the physical separation while they are gone. It has been a wonderful program for years and has helped millions of kids keep in touch with their moms and dads.
Betty got UTR up and running, and when it was able to stand on its own, she moved on because there were others who needed her help: the kids of men and women who have been incarcerated.
Imagine the agony of those children of inmates who don’t understand why their parents can’t come home. Betty knew how important it was to maintain a connection between parents and their children at home. At United Through Reading, she saw the impact that connecting them had, and she took on the challenge by creating a new organization called Reading Legacies. Created in 2010, the nonprofit works to, “…reach out to children and youth who lack the emotional support of committed role models or whose lives have been torn apart by parental incarceration.” (Reading Legacies website)
Because, I think she is an angel.
Here is a video that gives just a glimpse at the impact that Betty Mohlenbrock has had on the world. Click on the image.
