#GivingTuesday to follow Cyber Monday for area non-profit

Only a few days ago, families across the nation took a day to give thanks. Consumer traditions such as Black Friday and today's Cyber Monday quickly followed. Now, non-profits in Eastern Iowa and others across the world are adding a new day to the calendar, #GivingTuesday.

United Way of East Central Iowa is encouraging area residents to give to its Read Every Day to Get Ahead program this Tuesday, Dec. 2. The program provides low-income families with important early development tools for their children.

'It's really about encouraging parents that they are their child's first teacher,” said Laura Columbus, UWECI's education coordinator.

United Way's RED Ahead program began in 2011 to help families get their child ready for kindergarten, Columbus said.

The first three years of a child's life is a crucial period for brain development, said Columbus, and the program encourages participating parents to engage in activities such as reading aloud to their children, playing games that help brain development, and talking to their child.

'We've seen that parents tend to shy away from reading with their children because they're not a strong reader themselves or reading out loud can be uncomfortable,” Columbus said. 'We're really instilling in parents that a six-month-old doesn't know you skipped a word.”

Eligible program participants visit with a specialist to check on their child's developmental progress. The RED Ahead program is a partnership between United Way, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, along with the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program. RED Ahead services are currently offered for free at the Urban and North Towne WIC clinics in Cedar Rapids to families with children under the age of one.

Columbus stressed the importance of early literacy development and how studies show a lack of development in the first three years can make it harder for a child to catch up with their peers once they enter kindergarten.

Donations go toward purchasing age appropriate books for families and their visits with an early literacy specialist. According to United Way's website, a $25 contribution can provide one child with four books a year.

A New York non-profit teamed up with the United Nations Foundation in 2012 to launch #GivingTuesday. United Way participated but this is the first year it has promoted the event and a specific cause, said Caitlin Wiedenheft, a UWECI content development specialist.

December is an important month for many charities and non-profits. According to a Network for Good study, 30 percent of annual giving takes places in December.

Wiedenheft said their goal is to have at least 15 donors and raise $1,000 on Tuesday. That is enough to provide a child and their family with 20 developmental visits, checkups and activities from a child's first birthday through kindergarten.

To participate in #GivingTuesday and to support the RED Ahead program, click on the donate button on United Way of East Central Iowa's website.