Organization connects service members to families and schools through reading

A California organization is answering the call to help military families stay connected despite the distance of deployment.

For 35 years now, United Through Reading has recorded videos of service members reading stories.

The recordings are sent to children and loved ones at home, along with a copy of the book so they can follow along. The non-profit says it can really help create the feeling of a treasured family ritual, providing a sense of normalcy for these military families.

"Especially with some of the younger families, we hear when the servicemember leaves, it really disrupts that family routine, " Melanie Sheridan from United Through Reading said. "This is a way to have that deployed or away servicemember on demand when someone in the family is missing them, missing that connection, they can pull up those videos and see them and hear their voice."

More than 100 schools in the state will get their own "Storytime with a Servicemember" this week to help celebrate Veterans Day.

For more information on either program, you can visit unitedthroughreading.org.