Stamford Patch – NBCUniversal Brings Storytime to Stamford Students During Annual Read-a-thon

Executives from NBCUniversal’s (NBCU) Stamford Media Center (SMC) visited Toquam Magnet School in Stamford today to read to students as part of The Volunteer Center of United Way of Western Connecticut’s (The Volunteer Center) Annual “Business to Books” Read-a-thon. Gloria Harrison-Hall, Senior Producer of NBCU’s “Maury,” and a team of SMC employees led kindergarten and first-grade classrooms in story time, marking the fourth year that NBCU has participated in the “Business to Books” program.

“NBCUniversal is a proud member of the Stamford community,” said Harrison-Hall, “and we welcome the opportunity to participate in events like today’s Read-a-thon, where our employees can give back to a city that has given so much to us.”

The Stamford Media Center is located in downtown Stamford and produces the successful NBCUniversal talk shows including “Maury,” “The Jerry Springer Show,” “The Steve Wilkos Show” and “The Trisha Goddard Show.”

In January of 2002, the Workplace Volunteer Council (WVC), a working group within The Volunteer Center, collectively identified the need to promote literacy and launched the “Business to Books” Read-a-thon program, which is designed to enhance public education by increasing community volunteerism in the schools. This Spring, 10 public elementary schools will be visited by volunteers from local companies including:

NBCUniversal’s Stamford Media Center
The Ashforth Company
Greenwich Associates
Nestle Waters
Xerox
Deloitte
Philips
Thomson Reuters
Pitney Bowes
Kelley Drye & Warren
US Trust
Mayor Pavia’s Office
Stamford Fire Department

“We’re thrilled to have so many enthusiastic partners in Stamford’s business community,” said Bridget Fox, Executive Vice President of Volunteerism for the Volunteer Center of the United Way of Western Connecticut. “With the help of volunteers from local companies, we are able to reach more than 2,000 children in one week through our ‘Business to Books’ Read-a-thon. Engaging volunteers in the classroom is a wonderful way to promote literacy and support education initiatives in our community.”