FRG, Books for Brats and Community Business Leaders team to Donate Holiday Gifts to Children of Troops Serving in Iraq

Gift Helps Comfort Children of the 106 AVN Affected by Deployment

BROOKLYN, NY (PRWEB) DECEMBER 20 2003--Little Redhaired Girl Publishing, Inc. joined forces with local business leaders to help the 106 AVN FRG donate a special holiday gift for the children of their unit. Local car dealers Dave Strieter of Strieter Motor Company, Ken Dahl of Dahl Ford and Bob VanScyoc of Buysse Dodge all from Davenport, Iowa made contributions to the cause.

The soldiers of the 106 AVN National Guard unit have been deployed in Iraq for almost a year. The Illinois and Iowa based units FRG (Family Readiness Group) arranged for a holiday party for their 150 children. Jennifer Zimmerman and Trisha Elkin raised funds to buy copies of the Daddy, Youre My Hero!" and Mommy, Youre My Hero!" children's picture books to help the children cope with deployment.

The books are part of Little Redhaired Girl Publishing's "Books for Brats" (www.booksforbrats.net) series for children of military and public service personnel. Books for Brats and local business leaders donated matching funds to make the gifts possible.

Author and illustrator of the Books for Brats series, Michelle Ferguson-Cohen, says "We felt this was a great way to put the books in children's hands and create a partnership between the community and the military families. Especially during the holidays, it's important for us to acknowledge the sacrifice the families of our troops make. Especially the little ones."

The program also achieves two important goals set by the author: first, to encourage civilian awareness of military families and second, to acknowledge and support military families.

Little Redhaired Girl Publishing released two titles from the BOOKS FOR BRATS series in 2003, Daddy, Youre My Hero!" and Mommy, Youre My Hero!". Acclaimed by educators and childcare professionals, both titles are written and illustrated by Michelle Ferguson-Cohen. Ferguson-Cohen, a self-professed military brat", wrote the books from a childs perspective to help children coping with deployment. Ferguson-Cohen is the child of a Vietnam Veteran and career Army officer, her sister is a Gulf War Vet and her grandfather was killed in action in WWII.

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For more information, please contact Little Redhaired Girl Publishing, Inc.

917.640.2844 or booksforbrats@aol.com.