Every day seems to have a slogan these days.

Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. 

Giving Tuesday is my favorite. I love all of the others, don’t get me wrong. But especially after I became a parent, i found myself looking more and more for ways to show my children that the holidays are about more than what’s under our own tree 

Giving Tuesday has been perfect for that. And this year, Studer Community Institute joined thousands of nonprofit agencies in harnessing the spirit of this time of year to kickstart the end-of-year giving season. 

And, just as we knew you would, our wonderful community responded to the call to help support our Brain Bag project at Baptist, Sacred Heart and West Florida hospitals.

The Brain Bags are early literacy gift bags given to new mothers before they leave the hospital. They include: a storybook, “P is For Pelican, the ABCs of Pensacola,” which uses landmarks in our community to build letter awareness and encourage family reading; Baby Steps, a baby book that can be personalized to help parents track early brain development milestones in the first three years of life; a toy; and a binder of community resource information and partners to help support parents. It includes library locations, screen time guidelines, Thirty Million Words Initiative teaching points, healthy lifestyle advice for first year of life, and more.

The Brain Bags are assembled by Arc Gateway’s Pollack Industries. Arc offers life- and work-skills training for adults with developmental disabilities to help them contribute to the community. Assembling, storing and delivering the Brain Bags is now one of their contracted jobs.

As of Oct. 31, 2018, 8,283 families have received a Brain Bag through those hospitals. 

We don’t charge the hospitals for the Brain Bags they hand out and teach. It is only through the support of our donors that we can provide this critical resource to area moms.

Moms like Lana Sartain, whose son, Ryan Reynolds, was born at Sacred Heart Hospital in June. 

“I still read to him from that book. The (Baby Steps developmental guide) was very helpful.”

And moms like Courtney Raynor.

“Thank you so much for the brain bag. My son is already learning to point at colors and simple objects when asked at only 9 months old. The rattle is still a favorite. I'm glad to have y’all in our community.  There are a lot of parents with limited resources and the knowledge y’all have shared is outstanding.”

Sharing knowledge is our Number 1 goal. We know that parents can’t do better unless they know better. 

That’s why we also ask nurses to help patients complete a quick survey once the Brain Bag lesson is ended.

The survey to ask moms two questions: On a scale of 1-10, rate your knowledge of how parent talk influences early brain development before the Brain Bag, and then rate it after. 

Here is how the responses break down by hospital so far for 2018:

West Florida: 6.4 to 9.4

Baptist: 7.6 to 9.4

Sacred Heart: 6.9 to 9.6

Overall: 6.9 to 9.5

Your gift — on Giving Tuesday and on any day of the week — brings this critical resource to parents.

It’s information that every parent needs. And it’s information that we hope sticks with them. 

Because with a kindergarten readiness rate in Escambia County of 46 percent — and 60 percent in Santa Rosa County — we as parents and citizens need to do more for our children.

Because research tells us that the window for the foundation of healthy brain development is widest in the first three years of life. Children whose adults use talk and interaction to make the most of this time have a better chance of being ready for school.

Thank you for believing in our mission. 

Thank you for believing that changing our community is possible — and is only likely if we all work to support every child, not just the children in our own lives.

Thank you for believing that the power to build a brain, build a life and build a community begins with you.