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We, at the South Lake Tablet, have found that our community is the home of people with blended backgrounds, possessing an assortment of talents, interests, and experiences. Many of these unique people go far beyond their normal, everyday routines to make life better for their families, neighbors, and friends.

Each month, the South Lake Tablet will place a  “spotlight” on one of these local residents who selflessly devote time and efforts to make a positive impact on his/her community.

This month’s community spotlight shines on Thom Battisto. Thom was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he lived before moving to Central Florida in 1998. Thom has always had a passion and a soft heart for animals, in particular, dogs. This passion eventually evolved into Thom’s not-for-profit organization, Read to Sydney. Read to Sydney was an idea born primarily by the encouragement of friends who interacted with Thom’s dog, Sydney. Sydney was an Australian Shephard/Chow Mix who spent the first four years of her life with a family who had a child confined to a wheelchair. After the owner developed allergies, Sydney was placed for adoption and became part of Thom’s family.

As Sydney adapted to her new surroundings and family, Thom and his friends realized that Sydney had something special when around children. She interacted well with them, and the children seemed to gravitate towards her. A friend, along with their child, was visiting Thom’s family one evening. The child had a habit of watching television as a constant hobby and this visit was no exception from that pattern. Thom suggested to the child that he read a book to Sydney as a change of pace. The child complied and began reading a children’s book to nearby Sydney. As Sydney cozied up to the little boy and appeared to be listening to him read, the idea was born. A therapy dog that could help children with reading difficulties break those barriers.

In 2011, the idea became a reality. Sydney would be the first of three dogs that have been Read to Sydney therapy dogs. “When a child reads to dogs, there is no judgment, only patience and quiet acceptance. Reading to therapy dogs helps elevate a child’s self-esteem; it also provides comfort, reinforces learning, motivates speech, and teaches positive and appropriate behavior in the children. It is important to bring awareness to families seeking literacy programs,” says Thom. The program is designed to help children with or without a reading disability, overcome the fear of reading. Thom himself is dyslexic so understanding the troubles of a child with a reading disability came with ease and compassion.

During the twelve years that Read to Sydney has been visiting area libraries, schools, and community events, it is estimated that there have been 15-20,000 interactions with children, either as a reading therapy session or just simply interacting with Sydney or one of her predecessors, in a kid-friendly way. During Sydney’s therapy career, she was also recognized as an ambassador with the South Lake Chamber of Commerce. It is believed that she was the first canine ambassador to a chamber of commerce in the United States.

 Sydney has since crossed the pet-world rainbow bridge, but her memory has continued through the efforts of Thom, canine Toby, who has recently retired, and his present canine companion, Sunny. Sunny is a husky mix who has wasted no time in becoming a well-known furry face in the South Lake and West Orange communities. Sunny has assisted in the placement of ten lending library boxes throughout the community. A project that is partnered with the Kiwanis Club of Clermont. The Read to Sydney organization has also gone mobile with a book-mobile vehicle that makes the distribution of books to children at pop-up libraries and other community events an easy task.

Read to Sydney has received numerous accolades over the years, including articles in Women’s World Magazine, Access Hollywood’s Everyday Hero series, Spectrum News-13’s Everyday Hero spotlight, just to mention a few. Sydney Finds a Job, a children’s book published in 2015, was listed as a #1 best seller on Amazon. The book remains available on Amazon, as well as in libraries not only locally but libraries in France, Italy, China, Mexico and Germany. It is noteworthy to mention that Read to Sydney is completely funded from public donations and out of Thom’s personal finances. Several area schools conduct annual book drives to assist with the Lending Library Box program. Although public donations have been down slightly since the Covid pandemic and rising inflation, Thom maintains his program schedule and is determined to continue forward with Read to Syndey’s mission of teaching children to read, one “tail” at a time.

Thom is also very active in the community through the Kiwanis Club of Clermont. He not only serves as the club’s secretary, but he participates in programs at the Building Blocks Ministries and DreamPlex organizations with special needs programs for adults. He recently led a fundraiser event that netted $7,000.00 for the Neighborhood Center of South Lake’s summer “Feed the Children program,” and coordinated a $1,700.00 grant for the Building Blocks Ministries’ kitchen at the new facility being constructed in Groveland. He also serves as the clubs Youth Services Advisor, a position that coordinates the area elementary school’s Terrific Kid programs. The club recently recognized Thom’s efforts with a presentation to him of the George E. Hixson Award. An award presented to members who go above and beyond in their community volunteer service.

Visit readtosydney.org for further details and donation opportunities.

Also visit Cooper Memorial Library (mylakelibrary.org) and Winter Garden Branch | Orange County Library System (ocls.info) for a full listing of Read to Sydney’s library visits.

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While providing snacks and goodies to the volunteers and staff at TNCSL, Sunny was also busy collecting food and donations to assist TNCSL with its Summer Feeding Program for children. Read to Sydney’s Sunny donated a total of 103 pounds of food, including fruit cups, pasta, granola bars and much more.

You can also schedule a visit, a community event or reading session with Sunny by calling

407-247-8595 or checking out his Facebook page at SunnytheTherapyPup/facebook.com 

The post Sunny Begins His Summer Tour appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Watch for Sunny’s pop-up library events and ice cream socials. Follow SunnytheTherapyPup on Facebook for dates and locations. If you would like Sunny to visit your business or attend your event, email Sunny at Readtosydney@aol.com or give Sunny a call at 407 247-8595

A visit with Sunny will brighten your day.

The post Sunny The Therapy Pup Begins His 2023 Tour In June appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Mascotte Charter K Kids

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The post Mascotte Charter K-Kids Collect Books For Read To Sydney appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Read To Sydney is a local not-for-profit organization helping local children learn to read and enjoy reading as well.  Founder Thom Battisto and his sidekick Sunny visit local schools to give children the chance to interact with a therapy dog in their classroom, while listening to a story. At each school visit, every child is given a book of their own to keep, or a book donation is made to the classroom library.

Books are carried throughout the community to the children visiting The Read To Sydney’s Bookmobile.

At a fun afternoon with Mascotte Charter, Kiwanis of Clermont K-Kids and Read to Sydney’s Sunny the Therapy Pup recently kicked off a month-long book drive to support Read to Sydney’s book give-a-away program!

Recently, a Family Fun Day was held at Clermont Historic Village to honor the retirement of Toby after years of great work in the community.

Now leading the way at Read To Sydney is Sunny the pup, who is growing into his role as the official Therapy Dog helping kids to read. He has been working full-time making visits to schools and organizations and attending meetings. He has become a member of the Kiwanis Club of Clermont and attends most of the meetings. 

Free Book Libraries have popped up all around the area:

Donations can be made by at paypal account: readtosydney@aol or mailed to: Read to Sydney, PO Box 1519, Minneola FL 34755.

Sunny would love to meet you.

To learn more about Read to Sydney, visit us at:  www.readtosydney.org.

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In 4-Corners – Hands of Hope America held a community outreach Easter event. Attendees enjoyed an Easter egg hunt, barbecue and a time of fellowship. Families were also able to connect to resources and services in the community. Kiwanis Club of Clermont and Read to Sydney were there to give support and help with the festivities.

At Cagan Crossings/4-Corners an Easter Event and Kids Business Fair were a big success. Helpers included Events by S&G, Eddy Craft for his emcee talents, CLB Photography for the Easter Bunny photos, The Rachel Way 123 for organizing the Kids Business Fair, the Kiwanis Club of Clermont and Read to Sydney.  The Easter Bunny Kids Market, train rides, vendors, spirit stables farm animals, bounce houses, games and more provided fun for all.  

In Mascotte, the 2nd Annual Hopping into Awareness was held. April is Autism Awareness month and the Mascotte Police Department, spearheaded by Officer Kenia Abreu, combined Easter and Autism and got an Easter Autism Awareness fun day, complete with egg hunts, grilled hot dogs, safety demonstrations and the therapy dog held at the Mascotte Civic Center Pavilion.  It was a free family-friendly event.

At Head Start- Clermont

Children at Head Start Clermont enjoyed a morning of Easter goody bags, books, games and a chance to enjoy Easter fun and  Sunny the Therapy Pup!  

Read to Sydney and Kiwanis Club of Clermont handed out goody Easter Bags and Books to over 100 students.  

Other Easter Festivities

Groveland – Celebrated an Easter Event at Lake David Park. There was an Easter egg hunt, live DJ, easter bunny arts & crafts, kid zone, food and Lots of Fun

The post Easter Across South Lake: Students At Montverde Academy Stuffed Over 8,000 Eggs And Members of The Kiwanis Club of Clermont And Read To Sydney Provided Bunny Support appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Over 400 well-wishers attended the event to wish Toby a happy retirement. Visitors also met Sunny, the new therapy dog for Read to Sydney. At the end of the event, Read to Sydney presented the Clermont Historical Society with a $300.00 donation as a gesture of appreciation for their hospitality.

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Who doesn’t love pizza?  Who doesn’t love pups?  Put them both together and you have a wonderful afternoon for children at Clermont’s Historic Village. 

Mark your calendars today for Sunday, July 10^th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM!  That’s when Read to Sydney will be at the Village with not only the lovable Toby but also the cutest puppy ever, Sunny.  Toby has been enjoying having children read to him for 10 years and it is almost time for him to retire. Sunny is shadowing Toby so he can learn how to be the best companion he can to young readers.

The afternoon will obviously include reading and pizza but there will also be crafts and each child will get a book to take home to read over and over.  Toby loves sharing books and a fun afternoon with his two-legged friends so come to the Village at 490 West Avenue on July 7^th and make his day complete.

The Clermont Historical Society is proud to be able to host events with Read to Sydney.  Reading is such an important skill for a child’s future.  The early pioneers in South Lake County were well aware of that fact and were quick to open schools where their children could learn to read, write and do numbers.  The Historical Society is honored to carry on their ideals.

The Historic Village is open every Saturday & Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.  A donation of $5.00 per person over 12 is requested.  If you are interested in the history of Clermont or history in general, why not consider joining the Historical Society?  Membership is only $25 annually for an individual and $35 for a couple.  Our monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of each month in the Train Depot at the Historic Village.  The board meeting (open to the public) is at 6:00 PM.  Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 11^th.

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Toby is my mentor and has been teaching me how to help children read, one “tail” at a time. Our companion and leader, Thom Battisto takes us to visit schools, libraries and community events.

Read to Sydney partners with the Kiwanis Club of Clermont. We use our Read to Sydney Bookmobile to visit businesses and community events and hosts “Literacy On The Move” Popup Library events. Our Popup Library locations provide children a place to meet and read with Toby and me, make craft projects, and take a free book home with them. Children must be accompanied by a parent or other adult guardian to participate.

Since 2011, Read to Sydney has encouraged children to read, “One tail at a time”, using therapy dogs like our Doggie Founder Sydney, and now Toby and me.

 

For more information and/or to schedule a Popup event date and location, contact Thom Battisto at readtosydney@aol.com, call 407-247-8595 or like Read to Sydney’s Facebook page.

 

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