Target awards Queens Hospital Center $1G grant

The futures of local children recently got brighter.
On Friday, August 8 Queens Hospital Center announced that it was the recipient of a $1,000 grant from Target Stores for its pediatric Reach Out and Read (ROR) program. The grant will be used to purchase books for the program, which has been in effect for the last two years at the hospital’s onsite pediatric clinic and the Springfield Gardens offsite facility.
“We are extremely grateful to Target for awarding us this invaluable grant for our Reach Out and read program,” said Marcy Stein-Albert, M.D., Director of Pediatrics at Queens Hospital Center. “Promoting literacy is a routine part of our anticipatory guidance. We are also pleased to offer a selection of language-appropriate books for out non-English-speaking families.”
At the hospital’s ROR program, a brand new age-appropriate book is given out at every health maintenance visit for children ages six months to five years. “Our families, as well as our pediatricians, look forward to the part of the visit when a book is presented to the children,” continued Stein-Albert. “It is gratifying to see both the childrens’ and the parents’ eyes light up with delight.”
Reach Out and Read is a nationwide non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting early literacy. ROR programs are located in 148 hospitals and health centers and over 380,000 books are given to families annually.