Comic Book Drive for Children of Newtown, Connecticut

Everyone I know seems to be walking around in just a little bit of a fog lately, in the wake of the horrendous tragedy of the Sandy Hook School shooting, trying to make sense of the senseless.  While it's challenging to think of anything to say or do that would have any helpful effect in response to such an incredibly sad and tragic event, one person I know is trying hard to help, namely Russell Lissau of the Daily Herald.  In his off hours, Russell is a devoted comic book writer/illustrator (I know, I have been to one of his seminars) and he began with an idea to donate some of his Strawberry Shortcake comic books to the children of the area.  That idea was picked up by a group known as Reading with Pictures, which is organizing a nationwide comic book drive.  Here is the link to Reading with Pictures and a description of how you can help:

We at Reading With Pictures reacted to the tragic news coming from Newtown, CT with the same sense of loss and sadness that everyone else felt. As a nonprofit organization with a special tie to education and schools, to see the bond of safety and trust punctured was absolutely heartbreaking.

The outpouring of support all across the nation has been inspirational and we want to help in our own small way. An important time of happiness between families is reading together and we want to put together a collection of kid friendly comic books to send to the families in Newtown, CT.

We’ll be working with connections we have in that community to coordinate the best possible direction for this donation but we wanted to ask for your own help in this comic book drive.

If you have any children’s comic books to donate or want to assist in this, please email info@readingwithpictures.org


We will accept donations through the end of 2012. Please keep the following in mind:

1. We want children’s comic books only. Nothing scary, violent, suggestive in anyway. We will be scanning all donations to ensure the content is appropriate.

2. If possible, try to donate a few sets so we can spread them out among families

3. Your donations are tax deductible and we will provide all donors with a tax receipt

4. Reading With Pictures will attempt to document as much as possible the donation’s progress up until we send it but after that, we will want to respect the Newtown, CT community’s privacy

From all of us at Reading With Pictures, thank you so much for not only your compassion and caring but also believing in the power of comic books in creating community.