Miss Teen USA, Logan West, brought smiles to the faces of children at the Ryan/Chelsea Clinton Community Health Center in Manhattan, when she stopped in for a special story time. Her visit highlighted the work of Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, an early literacy program that partners with pediatricians to encourage families to read together.
Miss West read two favorite children’s books to children at the health center: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”
According to the newly released Kids and Family Reading Report, “having reading role-model parents or a large book collection at home has more of an impact on kids’ reading frequency than does household income.” Through Reach Out and Read, pediatricians provide children with free age-appropriate books at each checkup, and work with parents and caretakers to make reading aloud with their children part of a daily routine.
“Reach Out and Read has been a wonderful program for the Ryan/Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center, as it helps us connect children with books at a young age,” said Dr. Carolyn Chu, medical director and acting executive-director of the health center. “It highlights the importance of literacy from the very beginning, and encourages families to bond through a shared love of reading.”
In the last year, medical providers at the Ryan Center distributed 800 books to children through the Reach Out and Read program.
There are Reach Out and Read programs at more than 180 hospitals and health centers in the Greater New York region, including the five boroughs of New York City and seven counties north of the city.
Reach Out and Read of Greater New York distributes books to over a quarter of a million children annually at 185 Reach Out and Read clinical locations throughout New York City, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties. For more information, visit their website: www.reachoutandreadnyc.org.
For over 40 years, the family of Ryan Community Health Centers has provided thousands of medically underserved New Yorkers with access to high quality, affordable, primary, preventive, and specialty health care and supportive services. Operating under the principal that “health care is a right, not a privilege,” the Ryan Center opens its doors to all people, regardless of their income, neighborhood, race, or the language they speak.
Miss Teen USA
The Miss Universe Organization, producers of the MISS UNIVERSE®, MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA® pageants, is a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal joint venture. Miss Teen USA spends her year building relationships with organizations devoted to education and action, such as Best Buddies, D.A.R.E., Girl Talk, Project Sunshine and the Same Sky Trade Initiative. For more information, visit: www.missteenusa.com.
