I love books. Ever since I was a young child I’ve spent hours escaping into the pages of a good book. Even though I do more reading on the screen of my Kindle now, the experience is just the same and I’m making sure that my children are avid readers as well.

That is why when I heard that President Obama’s 2011 Budget cuts all funding for Reading is Fundamental (RIF) I was saddened.

Do you remember RIF? I do. It was always a great day at school because we’d go down to the gymnasium and have the power to pick out a single book for free. It was so hard to choose just one book to take because they always had so many good ones. Buying books was something of a luxury for me and while I’d check them out of the library at an alarming rate (we lived across the street), I cherished the days that RIF came to school.

Founded in 1966, RIF distributes 15 million books annually to children. Funded by Congress since 1975, RIF maintains programs in schools, community centers, hospitals,  and military bases. They have roughly 400,000 volunteers that maintain their 17,000 locations. They do a LOT of good for the country.

But, with the proposed budget all of their funding will be cut and their program will more then likely have to shut down. I don’t want to see this happen and I have a strong feeling that many of you don’t want it to either.

There is a letter writing campaign going on and they’ve made it as easy as a few clicks to e-mail your government officials about this.

To show your support please go to www.Rif.og/SaveRIF