Imagine what you would feel like if you had difficulty or were not able to read this; think back for a moment, to a time when you were 7 and you were so upset you thought nothing would console you, but something as simple as a hug made it all seem a little better.  Today  people of all ages struggle with literacy; guidance counselors are no longer allowed to touch children let alone give them a hug when they are going through a crisis.  This is where the Valparaiso University’s Girls Softball Team and the United Way Regional Volunteer Center’s “I Need A Hug” and “Reading Buddies” programs come in. 

The I Need a Hug program was developed in 2003 by the United Way Regional Volunteer Center in partnership with the Valparaiso Softball Team. Throughout the year, new, small stuffed animals are collected by businesses, groups, churches, and schools as well as local campus wide drives. These animals are given to the Guidance Counselors in our elementary schools to be used as counseling tools. I Need a Hug is currently in 84 elementary schools throughout NWI and provides a way for counselors/teachers to comfort children without physical contact.

In 2008 Nicole Norvell, Social Worker at Edison Elementary School in Hammond, asked if we could provide additional stuffed animals for each of their 2^nd grade students in order to pilot a literacy program, called Reading Buddies. The children are pre-tested at the beginning of the year then the stuffed animal (Reading Buddy) is introduced. Each student names their ‘buddy” and reads aloud to them for 15 minutes each day. The children were tested again at the end of the school year and the reading scores had increased significantly! Teachers also found that the motivation to read had also increased and data shows that most students with higher reading scores will also score higher academically overall.

Last October we invited representatives from all of the elementary schools to a luncheon at Valparaiso University and Nicole presented the findings from the Reading Buddies program. We have over 20 schools that will be implementing Reading Buddies in the fall and our hope is to be able to provide enough new stuffed animals for every school to implement the I Need a Hug and Reading Buddies. Currently it takes over 5,000 stuffed animals to support just the counseling piece of this great program so we will need to increase that annual amount by at least 2,000.

With the help of thousands of soft, new and cuddly stuffed animals children all across NWI get a hug when times are tough and have someone to read to every day for 15 minutes a day.  This program supplies crucial tools in our elementary schools for teachers and counselors through your donations. 

As we head into our 7^th year the demand is so much greater.  We are now serving 83 elementary schools in Lake, LaPorte and Porter Counties.  Drives are needed now more than ever.  Businesses can take advantage of the United Way logo and host a drive.   Drives can be connected to a discount for new accounts, event ticket discounts, discounts off services or just because.  All you would need is a desire to help.  The United Way Regional Volunteer Center will supply any posters and boxes needed. 

We were fortunate enough to have a storage facility in Valparaiso Indiana donated to house the stuffed animals as they come in.  We are always looking for volunteers to come help sort through the OSHA accepted ones and deliver them to the participating schools. 

If you are interested in hosting a drive:

Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator in your county.

Lake County: Chris Eller Esparza, (219) 923-2302 ext. 311 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Porter County: Kathy Wojkovch, (219) 464-3583 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it