Humpty Dumpty Pilots First Kids Magazine Airlift to Make Delivery to Broken Kids and Families in Time for the Holidays

The Children's Better Health Institute, the largest publisher of children's health magazines in the U.S., with combined circulation of over 1.2 million, has partnered with the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project to launch the first ever Kids Magazine Airlift to send magazines to needy children in schools, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters.

Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) October 31, 2005 -- Humpty Dumpty, the beloved Children’s Better Health Institute mascot, today piloted the first ever Kids Magazine Airlift off the ground to deliver magazines to teachers and other community literacy agents to help children in need. The mobilization, in partnership with the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project, aspires to marshal vast resources to rebuild children’s lives by filling the magazine shelves of schools, libraries, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and other community literacy programs. The take-off coincides with this year’s celebration of Children’s Magazine Month.

“The Kids Magazine Airlift works like a holiday food drive at a grocery store, but feeds kids hungry to read,” explained John Mennell, founding director of the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project. “Consumers shopping for magazines at the CBHI web site (http://cbhi.org/) for their own children can also purchase a gift that will be sent to a school or shelter to help other children. The Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project matches the much-needed gift subscriptions to schools, shelters and other community literacy programs that serve children and families in need,” he added.

“In their wake, hurricanes have left over 200,000 children homeless and on the move to new schools. There will be other natural disasters. Over 1,000,000 kids spend time in a homeless or domestic violence shelter at some point during the year, arriving with no possessions,” said Mennell. “Few treasures brighten a child's eyes, smile and intellect like a magazine. The CBHI web site makes it easy for consumers and businesses to send their wonderful magazines to literacy agents for kids in need,” he added.

“We are pleased that this program has taken off the runway during Children’s Magazine Month and in time to reach children and families in time for the holidays,” said Charlene Gaynor, Executive Director of the Association of Educational Publishers. “We celebrate Children’s Magazine Month to spotlight the wonderful role that children’s magazines play in schools and for generations of families reading together,” she added.

“We salute the Kids Magazine Airlift,” said Nina Link, President and CEO, Magazine Publishers of America. “Children’s magazines represent one of America’s most powerful and vital reading resources for teachers and other community literacy leaders,” she added.

The Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project (http://MagazineLiteracy.org/) helps kids learn to read and build their self-esteem by organizing collaborative magazine industry, business and community partnerships that provide much needed magazines to schools, and community literacy programs. The project strives to unleash the awesome potential of children’s magazines as a powerful literacy resource for kids and families.

The Children’s Better Health Institute (http://www.cbhi.org/) is the largest publisher of children's health magazines in the U.S., with combined circulation of over 1.2 million for: Turtle, Humpty Dumpty's, Children's Playmate, U.S. Kids, Jack and Jill, Child Life, and Children's Digest.

Founded in 1895, the Association of Educational Publishers (http://www.edpress.org/) promotes supplemental educational resources as essential learning tools. AEP does this by facilitating communication among key interest groups in the world of educational publishing, such as educators, policy makers, educational foundations and associations, businesses, and the education media.

Established in 1919, the Magazine Publishers of America (http://www.magazine.org/) is the industry association for consumer magazines, representing more than 240 domestic publishing companies with approximately 1,400 titles, and over 80 international companies.

Children’s Magazine Month (http://childmagmonth.org) is a nationwide literacy initiative intended to spotlight children's magazines as a valuable literacy resource for teachers, librarians, children, parents, and others literacy agents. Children’s Magazine Month was founded by the Association of Educational Publishers in 2002 and is co-managed with the Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project.

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