Stay connected with the help of the USO. We're offering the Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program to all military members.
One of the most difficult things a child can experience is having a parent separated from them for an indeterminate period of time, which could be anything from working an overnight shift to a long-term deployment. The Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program helps ease the stress of separation for military families by having service members who are separated from the children they love read children’s books aloud on video for the child to watch at home.
The USO provides everything for Reading sessions at no cost - a wide variety of children's books, recording equipment, backdrop, and recording media. If you're geographically separated or preparing to deploy, we will ship your recording with the book directly to the child you read to. If you'd like to take the recording home so it's ready for storytime when you're not home, we'll make sure everything is packaged nicely for you to take with you.
For more than six decades - from World War II through Vietnam to the Gulf War – Bob Hope traveled the world, visiting remote outposts and isolated battleships to put on USO shows to support our nation’s service members and their families. His passion and commitment for helping keep troops and families stay connected from halfway around the globe lives on today.
The Bob Hope Legacy is proud to partner with the USO to create the Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program. In the spirit of Bob Hope and his dedication for bringing military families together, the program is largely driven by virtual, on-demand story time offerings that will help the USO extend its reach and connect an estimated 23,000 military families around the globe through reading this year. The Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program focuses on:
Bringing story time on demand around the globe. Thanks to the generous support of the Bob Hope Legacy, the USO is able to help service members read to their children from around the world. When a service member stationed in the deserts of Kuwait misses the birth of his child, the USO is there to provide that powerful connection back home. Through the Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program, that service member is able to read his newborn daughter a bed-time story from halfway around the globe. Service members can walk into participating USO locations, record themselves reading their child’s favorite story and have that recording shipped home.