REACH-a-Child™ Featured on WXOW News
TOMAH, Wis. (WXOW) - The non-profit REACH-A-Child has teamed up with AT&T to equip Tomah's police, fire, and emergency service departments with backpacks filled with books.
Sometimes in emergency situations involve children, like in the case of a home fire or a vehicle accident.
At a presentation Wednesday, REACH-A-Child presented the backpacks, valued at $21,000 dollars, to help Tomah's first responders connect with children during those types of traumatic situations.
REACH-A-Child is working to provide all emergency services in Wisconsin with a grab bag filled with books to help keep those kids occupied during such times of crisis.
Each reach bag contains 20 new children’s books and several drawstring backpacks that are given to children.
Jim Jermain, AT&T's Regional VP of External Affairs for Wisconsin, said the company's contribution aligns with their support for community first responders.
"In the past we had volunteer organizations that would typically give out teddy bears to first responders and that was comforting but it didn't really distract them from the situation going on," Jermain explained. "When you have an opportunity to sit down with child and read a book to them, you're really taking their mind off of what might be going on."
Tomah Police Chief Scott Holum said the donation will immediately be put to good use.
"You never know," Chief Holum said. "There's multiple vehicles going from this location or that location so having one in each vehicle will really make it very convenient for us. Pretty much every vehicle that we have that's out and about in our community will have one available."
Since 2005, over 300,000 books have been given away by REACH-A-Child, Tomah is one of the first communities to receive a donation in the Coulee Region.
Organizers at Reach-A-Child say any emergency service can request backpacks for their municipality.
Besides corporate funding, REACH-A-Child also accepts public donations. Their website has a portal for that as well.
