My Nonprofit Reviews

The first time I sat down as a volunteer at the Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas and heard incarcerated mom's read to their children, I thought about my mother’s voice reading me my favorite stories as a child and was brought quickly to tears.

I had not heard of Storybook before my neighborhood ladies group voted to make volunteering our annual service project. For me the idea of going inside a prison to sit and help "criminals" was unsettling, a bit intimidating, and more than a little scary. Not only did I not know what to expect from prison and prisoners, but I worried about how uncomfortable I would feel in such an unusual and frankly terrifying place. But, I put those fears and nerves aside and went through training and signed up for our first visit. The fear I had about the prison, the women, and my own ability to relate to the situation all vanished as soon as I helped my first mother record the book "I Love You Forever" to her 4 year old daughter.

When she closed the book and said, "I love you forever baby, be a good girl, and be strong, Mama will be home soon." I choked back a sob and we both wiped away our tears. I knew Storybook was a worthy organization that I wanted to be more involved with, and I knew I was coming back.

Since that first visit I have volunteered inside a prison once a month, and I look forward to the privilege of helping build the bond between mother and child during the most difficult of circumstances. I take a lot of joy in knowing that after each visit, after giving just a few hours of my time, there are typically 50+ children who are going to get a very exciting envelope in the mail with a brand new book, a written message, and a recording they will have forever of the day their mommy missed them and loved them enough to record them something special.

Beyond just the experience inside the prison I also look forward to meeting other volunteers, interesting women of all ages and walks of life, who share the same excitement and passion each time we start the drive together. We all get to know one another on the drive up and over lunch before we head in for our work, and then we always end up sharing our stories of joy and heartbreak from the day recording on the way home.

For instance on one particular visit when asked if they had received any feedback from their children since we sent the last book, one mom quietly raised her hand and smiled. She said that her mother told her they had gotten the book she sent for her 4 year old but she wasn’t really understanding what it was yet. However, her 16 year old daughter had the CD and was listening to it every morning as she got ready for school. There wasn’t a dry eye left in the room.

I've travelled with wonderful interesting women like librarians, grad students, computer programmers, bloggers, cancer-survivors, proud Aunties, legal aides, and one very special retired 7th Grade Teacher - my Mom, Susan, who now is also a Storybook volunteer.