Summer expectations can vary greatly from family to family. Some want to relax and recharge at home while others have activities planned every week. One common battle parents and children face is over screen time. Christi Brasiel knows that fight all too well. What started out as a restriction has now turned into something beautiful.
Her sons, CJ and Ty, are volunteering to put their electronics down for the summer and read to raise money for others. They are participating in the Stuff A Bus program by the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). The money goes to buy Christmas gifts for children who are in foster care. Radio personalities call on the community every year to fill the bus with new, unwrapped toys for the cause. The program serves communities in Louisiana and parts of Mississippi.
Christi recalled how they got started, “At that time it was like ‘Okay you’re grounded. Okay, you’re grounded longer. Okay we’re going like an entire month without anything and you’re going to learn how to adapt without electronics.'”
That first year the charitable donations went to the local Ronald McDonald House. Those funds helped them get a new library. The family discovered CASA’s Stuff A Bus last year.
CJ and Ty are making the most of the Usbourne Books And More Summer Reading Challenge. The boys read as many books as they can and keep a record of their time on a reading log. Christi posts their progress on Facebook, and people send in donations. The boys have raised $475 of their $1500 goal.
“It’s something that really means something to our family,” she said. “As parents of adopted children that went through foster care, we were recipients of those big black bags full of presents.”
You can visit Christi’s Facebook page here to contact her for donation.
