Did you know that the USO at Baltimore-Washington Airport assists and services between 8,000 – 10,000 service people and their families a month?! There are incoming and outgoing military flights every single day — and often round the clock.  In fact, Saturdays are one of the busiest days of the week and the outgoing flights often hold 350 service people and their families. As you can imagine, many of these are young children.

When we were contacted by Theresa Backof, a USO volunteer, we knew we wanted to help. So, we put together a donation of children’s books for use in the USO “Kids’ Room.” The Kids’ Room is set aside for smaller children with some toys and books and is geared for the 6-and-under child.

According to Theresa, it is not unusual for a mom and two kids to arrive at 10am on a Saturday for an outgoing flight to Germany at 10pm that night. So, the books help pass the time in a positive way for both child and parent!

Theresa also mentioned that the USO holds a yearly fundraiser with “themed auction baskets.” Since authors often kindly send us signed copies, we also sent these to the USO for inclusion in an autographed book basket!

Many thanks to Theresa Backof of the USO for alerting us to this need. And, thanks to all of our fighting men and women for their service!

Founded in 2002, Success Won’t Wait, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit literacy organization based in Wilmington, Delaware. Want to learn more about Success Won’t Wait’s literacy projects, how to donate used  books, or volunteer your time? Simply visit About Success Won’t Wait.