Donna Muñoz

#ReadingBrave

#BlossomBookBash

#HarleyFarleyHalloweenParty

 

The Reading Brave program was created to honor my late father's memory.

 

When I was 14, just starting high school, I learned the terrible news that my daddy was going to die. He had lung cancer and only a few months to live. He would not see me become a homecoming princess or win academic awards. He wouldn't see me graduate from college or get married. He would never get to meet my babies or hear them call out for their grandpa.

 

Cancer... I hate you.

 

The news about my dad was a lot to take in. I watched him slowly drift away both physically and mentally. I often would climb into bed with him and just breath because sometimes, it felt like I didn't remember how. I would smell his scent, one that brought me comfort since I was a small child, and I would promise myself that I would never forget it.

 

My mother stopped working and became his full-time caretaker. There were six of us children. We had bills to pay and no income to pay them with. It was such a whirlwind of a change that sometimes I wanted to just run out of our front door and down the street and never stop. Nothing could tame the wild anxiety that rooted inside of me and grew into a tree with long branches... nothing... except for reading. Reading gave me peace. Reading gave me comfort. It gave me a hand to hold. Reading made me brave.

 

Reading is a super power. There is no denying it. It can transport us far away from our hardest times, and it can celebrate with us in our greatest times. Reading Brave is a non-profit program that reaches out to children's hospitals and sends books to children on the oncology floors. These amazing and brave children don't always have easy days; in fact, most of their days are filled with pain and other huge challenges, challenges that even some of the strongest adults would crumble under. We want them to know that we're with them, and we send our love, prayers, and hope through books that were chosen especially for these precious children. May these books take them on adventures, take them out of that hospital room, even for a short time, and help them to stay brave.

 

In the spring we send books and surprise bags to celebrate the #BlossomBookBash, and in fall, we celebrate Halloween with surprise bags and a #HarleyFarleyHalloweenParty where every child will receive a copy of Harley Farley's First Halloween. For more information, or if  you would like to donate a book, please use the contact page to request the details. And thank you so much! <3