Uncle Matt’s Gives Back: Eight Waves’ Books for Babies Program
Uncle Matt’s Organic is proud to support Eight Waves and their new Books for Babies program! Every quarter we feature a local organization making a profound impact in our community on our orange juice labels and donate a portion of sales directly to the charity! We recently hosted the Eight Waves team at a luncheon where we proudly presented them with a check for $10,062.46! We’re dedicated to doing our part to grow healthier generations through charitable donations.
Eight Waves Children and Family Services is dedicated to enriching the lives of youth living in under-privileged areas. They believe in providing fundamental, meaningful experiences to kids to better prepare them for a successful future. One of their key initiatives is fostering a love for learning through promoting an early introduction to reading.
Eight Waves’ new Books for Babies program is designed to help children excel in school –– and beyond –– by providing early access to books. A staggering number of families have no books in their homes. Many children who don’t have early exposure to reading later struggle with literacy and grade level reading proficiency. Reading is foundational, and Eight Waves Books for Babies is on a mission to provide every family that leaves South Lake Hospital in Clermont, FL with a board book for their newborn. We sat down with Eight Waves Director Sara Meyer to ask her more questions about this new initiative and how our donation impacts their organization:
Eight Questions for Eight Waves
1. Q. Where did the idea for “Books for Babies” come from and how long has this been in the works?
A. We’ve been working on this for about 2 years. After interacting with so many of the youth that are a part of our Eight Waves intervention program and seeing first-hand how easy it is for children to fall behind grade-level reading standards, I started looking into ways to help this problem. I did the research on how important early introduction to reading is, and I wanted to make an impact by exposing babies to books early to reduce their need for our intervention services later.
As a mom myself, when we were being discharged from the hospital, I was given information about SIDS, car seat safety and nutrition for baby. None of the new parent education was about the importance of reading. We want to do something about that by making sure every baby that leaves South Lake Hospital has a book with an educational insert for parents.
2. Q. What kind of impact will this donation from Uncle Matt’s Organic make on your program?
A. This is huge! We’re estimating 1,500 babies will be born at South Lake Hospital this year. Uncle Matt’s donation alone covers the first full year of books for these newborns and gives us a head start on next year. Your team has made this program possible!
3. Q. What kind of feedback have you already gotten on this program?
A. We recently gave a mom in Winter Garden a stack of books for her toddler for Christmas. She had no books in her house for her child. She called us back to thank us, and let us know her child pointed to a page in the book with the color red and said “red.” It’s such a small example, but it just shows this is working!
4. Q. Why do you think it’s important for newborns to get books? Why not wait a couple years?
A. I was blown away to learn more about the “million word gap.” It’s never too early to start reading to your baby. By regularly reading to your child, even just three times a week for 15 minutes, you’re exposing them to so many words. By not reading to your child, by the time they enter elementary school, there could be a million words they haven’t heard yet.
5. Q. What tips do you have for parents reading to their babies?
A. When babies are really young, try using high contrast black and white books and holding the books close up so they can focus. Throughout their first year, don’t be afraid to re-read books as babies learn well from repetition. Try to make reading as fun as possible by interacting with your baby or reading to them during tummy time.
6. Q. How often are you planning to make book donations?
A. We’re planning to always have a stack of books at the hospital for new families to take home, but our goal is to eventually provide age-appropriate books at each milestone check-up appointment at pediatrician offices for the first year of a child’s life.
7. Q. What else can the local community do to help?
A. We can always use more volunteers! We’re also so thankful to some of the other local organizations who have already pledged to provide several hundred books every year.
8. Q. Where do you see this organization’s growth in the next 10 years?
A. I truly hope there is more education around the importance of reading so that we solve the need for reading intervention services. I would love to see this program expand to more hospitals, pediatricians, OBGYNs and any other high foot traffic areas where parents can easily grab a free book for their child.
