Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.

I’m officially on a break until next Tuesday but this time-sensitive item popped into my in-box is worth noting.

Giving back.  As part of its continuing efforts to promote literacy and in order to provide books to those children in America most in need, Walden Media and the Weinstein Company (TWC) have partnered with the National Education Association’s Read Across America to launch the “Ticket to a Better World” initiative.  Fifty cents of each The Giver movie ticket sold during Labor Day Weekend will be donated to the Ticket to a Better World initiative to raise up to a quarter of a million dollars to buy books for those children most in need.

 Walden Executive Francis X. “Chip” Flaherty stated, “The Giver affirms our belief that individuals must have the freedom to pursue and fulfill their dreams.  That freedom is precisely the gift that reading and literacy provide.  Every time you put a book in the hands of a child, you unleash the power of imagination and hope that can change the world.  We are honored to partner with Read Across America to launch the ‘Ticket to a Better World’ campaign and get books into the hands of kids who need them the most.”

 “Books open the floodgates to understanding and to learning,” says Anita Merina, national coordinator of NEA’s Read Across America. “This generous initiative will help us bring books like The Giver, onto the shelves and into the lives of so many children. At a time when access to books is so critical in the learning life of a child, this initiative is very exciting indeed.”

Commented TWC Co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein, “Behind this incredible movie that TWC and Walden are so proud of is one of the most beloved books of our time. Joining forces with the NEA’s fantastic Read Across America initiative is a perfect opportunity to support the cause for literacy behind the powerful name of The Giver.”

 To help support please visit: www.Walden.com/TicketToABetterWorld

 Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11