#ToysForTotsLiteracy at The UPS Store in Nipomo, CA

I was so excited to promote the Toys For Tots Literacy Program with a book reading by our local firefighters at The UPS Store in Nipomo, Calfornia!  The firefighters were more than willing to take part and brought some of their children’s favorite books.  Before the actual storytime event, there were preparations to be made.

Dallen, my 5 year old son, helped me to make color copies of the flyer we made for the event.  He had tons of fun making the color copies of the flyers we made for Storytime with the Firefighters for the Toys For Tots Literacy Event!  The UPS Store employees were so helpful and had smiles on their faces the entire time we were there.

On the morning of the Toys For Tots Literacy Event, I confirmed with the Fire Captain that they were able to make it to the Storytime Event at The UPS Store.  He said yes and that they hadn’t had any calls all morning.  Uh oh!  I was a little nervous about that statement, but hoped for the best.  About 20 minutes prior to the event, I received a phone call from Fire Captain Mike saying that they just received a call.  I told him not to worry and hoped everything was okay.  I started the storytime event on my own, reading How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You and The Pout Pout Fish.  The kids loved the stories!  Towards the end of reading The Pout Pout Fish, our firefighters showed up with smiles and books in hand, ready to read, sing, and play the guitar for the kids!

Fire Captain Mike was the first to read a story to the kids.  He read a few different stories from the classic, Where the Sidewalk Ends.  He read it with enthusiasm and even changed up the voices here and there.

After reading a few stories from Where the Sidewalk Ends, one of the firefighters made an effort to read Green Eggs & Ham.  He even was a trooper and wore the Dr. Seuss hat the kids wanted him to wear!

Next, Fire Captain Mike and one of the firefighters gave an amazing performance of The Runaway Pancake.  Like I told them, I have a lot to live up to the next time I read my boys that story.  I had no idea how the song went!  It was quite entertaining and had the undivided attention of the kids, parents, customers, and The UPS Store staff  during the whole song.  Heck, I wanted them to keep singing! 

After reading, singing, and playing the guitar to The Runaway Pancake, one of the firefighters read the infamous If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.  It was perfect lead up to our snack, which consisted of cookies and juice.

Afterwards, we all filled out donation bears (courtesy of The Mommy-Files) to give to the Toys For Tots Literacy Campaign!  The kids were very excited to see their names on the Bears that would soon be hanging up in The UPS Store.  Even Fire Captain Mike helped them fill out the bears!

Overall, it was an amazing experience!  Thank you so much to our local firefighters for helping us to have a fun and unforgettable Storytime and for supporting the Toys For Tots Literacy Campaign at The UPS Store in Nipomo, California!

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #ToysForTotsLiteracy.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.