Scribblitt Creates “Thank You” Book for Healthcare Workers

Meagan J. Meehan

May 14, 2020

Online kids publishing platform, Scribblitt, has just announced the release of a “Thank You” book
dedicated to healthcare workers amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

Online kids publishing platform, Scribblitt, has just announced the release of a “Thank You” book dedicated to healthcare workers amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. Created by young authors who are part of the Scribblitt community, the book is being sent to Elmhurst Hospital—the epicenter of the fight in hard-hit New York State. Scribblitt has also sent a book to four other hospitals which have been severely impacted by the highly infectious Covid-19.

Scribblitt is also offering 100 “publish your own book” opportunities to families of healthcare workers based out of the five selected hospitals. Scribblitt founder, Andrea Bergstein, released a press statement conveying her feelings that writing is an important way to deal with thoughts and feelings during this unprecedented time and noted that it is especially important for kids to share their stories.

Andrea recently elaborated on this project and the efforts behind it via an exclusive interview.

The book features many illustrations by Scribblitt users.

Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Andrea Bergstein (AB): Everyone is so thankful for healthcare workers going above and beyond to help their communities, and kids want to show their appreciation just like adults do. When I saw my own daughter’s artwork become influenced by Covid-19, I figured Scribblitt books would be a great way to compile many art contributions in a professional way to say thank you to front line workers.

MM: How many authors contributed to the piece and what are the contents like?

AB: There are 34 pages of artful thank you notes inside the Scribblitt thank you book for healthcare workers. The pieces range from beautiful drawings, to messages dedicated to our heroes, to a class compilation of rainbows.

MM: How long did it take to put together?

The book is being sent to hospitals that have been hit hard by the virus.

AB: We allowed a few weeks for participants to email us their contributions and then created and published the books.

MM: How did you pick the hospitals to send it to and how did you reach out to them?

AB: Hospitals were selected to receive a thank you book by researching the states, and then the cities, with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country and then identifying the hospitals that served those communities. Because we wanted to give a total of 100 ‘create your own books’ to the families of healthcare workers, selecting 5 hospitals and 20 books per hospital made sense. A phone call to the head nurse at each hospital confirmed who we should be sending the books to.

MM: How does the extra program work where you send books to families of first responders?

AB: Scribblitt will provide 20 free “publish your own books” to families of healthcare workers at the 5 hospitals who received a thank you book. Each hospital was asked to nominate the 20 team members whose families would benefit from writing about their thoughts and feelings during this pandemic. Scribblitt will then send each nominee a certificate for free publishing to tell their stories. Writing is a critical part of literacy and provides an outlet for emotions as well as a meaningful way to document this moment in history.

MM: What has the response from first responders been like so far?

AB: The nurses are extremely grateful for all community support received and can’t wait to see the books with the children’s artwork and well wishes.

MM: Is there anything else that you would like to mention?

AB: Scribblitt.com is a wonderful writing and illustration tool for kids to create and publish their own books or comics. In times like these, when schools have closed, parents are having to homeschool, teachers need access to more online tools, and kids need to express their thoughts and feelings, Scribblitt is there to incentivize a focus on literacy and help kids tell their stories.