Verizon Stories

We know that the youth and families we serve have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Economic impacts, along with the difficult realities of learning online create additional systemic barriers to success for our youth and families. We seek to collect 50 videos of volunteers reading one of their favorite children’s books for youth participating in the Friends of the Children – Utah program. Our professional mentors – Friends – will share these videos with the youth in their cohorts as a way to learn, explore a variety of topics, and virtually “meet” new faces.

Record yourself reading a story to our kiddos.

Step 1 - Select a story

Pick a story for a youth between the ages of 4-6 that is meaningful to you.
Stories that show cultural diversity and ones read in Spanish are also encouraged.
The video (story) should be under 10 minutes.
If you want to share a longer book, submit multiple recordings each under 10 minutes (each chapter).

Step 2 - Record the story

Find a quiet and well lit place to read your story. We find the best setup is having your camera setup to show the pages as you read them.
Start you recording with a brief introduction (hello).
Save the file as an MP4.

Step 3 - Share the story

Upload in Google Form using your personal account.
Or email recording to info@friendsutah.org.
You may need to use your personal device if your Verizon device is blocked.
We will share the recorded stories directly with our youth.

Share your story by sending us the book

Mail your book directly to our clubhouse

Friends of the Children - Utah
5361 S 4220 W, STE B
Kearns, UT 84118

Make a donation for us to buy a book by clicking here

We will add all these books to our clubhouse library to share directly with our kids

Pick it or another one from our Amazon Wishlist

Amazon Book Wish List

Include a comment on the order, so we know who sent the book