Connecting Kids to Books, Fun and a Good Night's Sleep

The RBIS team in New York City was looking for a way to connect with the kids in their community. They discovered The Pajama Program, a NYC-based nonprofit (with chapters across the U.S.) whose mission statement asserts, “Every child has the right to a good night. Yet, thousands of children across the United States will go to sleep tonight and their bedtime will be missing something. They may be feeling alone and afraid, in a bed that isn’t theirs, in a shelter that isn’t a home or with families who wish they could give them more.”

The RBIS team requested a grant from the Avery Dennison Foundation, through the Granting Wishes program. The grant was used to purchase books and pajamas for The Pajama Program, and employees donated their time to participate in a Reading Party.

The Pajama Program’s Reading Parties bring together local children (many from shelters or the foster care system) and adult volunteers to spend an hour reading together and enjoying a healthy snack. At the end of the event each child can select a new book to take away with them and is presented with a new pair of pajamas tied in ribbon with their name. “Without a good night’s rest, children can’t really wake up and reach their full potential,” says Chrissie Martinez of The Pajama Program. “It’s really about making each child we serve feel comforted and secure when they go to bed,” adds Danny Leventhal, also of The Pajama Program, about its mission.

“We encourage our employees to bring their best selves to work and to their communities. Our ‘community’ value was part of Stan Avery’s mission in business and in life. That is sustainability, giving our communities a sustainable future, it’s been part of our core since the very beginning,” says Alicia Procello,  Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and President, Avery Dennison Foundation. “Sustainability is how you treat your people, how you treat the world, and how you treat the culture where you are. It’s all interconnected,” remarked Rana Sidahmed, Head of Creative Services, RBIS.

And that’s another important connection that comes from volunteering: a desire to connect that experience with another and another, until volunteering and giving back to the community becomes a joyful habit.

To learn more about the Avery Dennison Foundation, please visit www.averydennison.com/foundation.

To learn more about the Pajama Program, please visit www.pajamaprogram.org.

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