Badges to Books

Stories Behind STEAM · Story 02

Badges to Books

A book can be the beginning of an entirely new direction.


A sheriff's deputy reading a book to a classroom of young students seated on the floor.
A deputy reads to a classroom during a Badges to Books visit.

Where It Started

A Simple Idea

Badges to Books grew out of a simple idea: the people who show up for a community in an emergency can also show up for it in a classroom.

When a first responder hands a young person a book, two things arrive at once — the story inside it, and the proof that someone thought they were worth showing up for.

Literacy to Experience

Reading Opens the Door

Pairing literacy with STEAM gives that moment somewhere to go.

A book about flight becomes more real standing under a canopy.

A page about engineering becomes something to build.

Reading opens the door; hands-on experience walks a young person through it.

Sheriff's deputies and young people gathered around a table of books beside an indoor skydiving wind tunnel.
Books and flight in the same room — deputies and young people at an indoor skydiving facility.

Participating Agencies & Community Partners

Who Has Shown Up

Agencies and community partners that have participated with Children of Fallen Heroes across Badges to Books and related community outreach activities.

  • Children of Fallen Heroes
  • Chicago Police Department
  • Chicago Fire Department
  • Houston Police Department
  • Houston Fire Department
  • Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office
  • Fayetteville Police Department
  • Fayetteville Fire Department
  • Tampa Police Department
  • Tampa Fire Rescue
  • Milwaukee Police Department
  • Milwaukee Fire Department
  • Scottsdale Police Department
  • Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office
  • Hoke County Sheriff’s Office
  • Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office
  • Southern Pines Police Department
  • Southern Pines Fire & Rescue
  • Pinehurst Police Department
  • Pinehurst Fire Department
  • Oak Island Police Department
  • Southport Fire Department
  • Silk Hope Volunteer Fire Department
  • City of Graham Fire Department

The proof that someone thought they were worth showing up for.

Put a Book in the Next Set of Hands

Every visit needs books, people and somewhere for the reading to lead. Support keeps Badges to Books moving from one classroom to the next.

Explore CFH STEAM Programs →
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