On June 29, 2007 the Screen Actors Guild Foundation celebrated volunteerism during the Spirit of Service Day at the American Girl Place at The Grove. The event was held to recognize the caring attitude of girls who devote their time to helping others.
To continue championing children’s literacy, the SAG Foundation arranged for young actresses to come to the store to do book readings every hour from the newest American Girl books. Girls were inspired by the animated storytelling from actresses Courtney Taylor Burness, Melissa Feuchtinger, Sammi and Danielle Hanratty and Lauren Storm.
Before the readings, the Canine Companions for Independence organization held a demonstration to show how well service dogs are trained and what an impact they can have on the disabled people they serve. One demonstration was especially memorable because the young girl, Olivia, the owner of the service dog in the demonstration, was able to share her own personal story with the crowd and meet an actress from one of her favorite TV shows. Since Olivia was an avid viewer of Lauren Storm’s TV show Flight 29 Down and a fan of the actress, she introduced Lauren to the crowd and sat next to her for the reading.
Girls sat quietly with their American Girl dolls by their side, and were captivated by the story of Nicki, American Girl’s 2007 character who loves helping people any way she can. By having actresses read to young girls, the SAG Foundation hoped to instill a passion for reading in all the girls who attended the Spirit of Service Day.
BookPALS
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