Would you like to brighten someone’s day without much effort or any money, all from the convenience of your computer?  Reachout America’s Pen Pal message board below is a great way to start.  You can connect with our community’s special people, whether young or old.  You can share ideas, make each other laugh and learn from each other. It's easy to do:

The first step is to register: 

Click the "Register" tab
Choose a unique name and password
Enter your email, name and picture if you like (Please know that your privacy is very important to us! Reachout America will never spam or sell your information) – PLEASE notify us if you have any issues! 
Choose your time zone
Then click "submit"
Check your email for our confirmation email
Click on our link included in the email and you will be registered.

You are now ready to get involved! 

Here are some suggestions to start: 

Please get involved and start a new forum topic - tell us your interest, goals, dreams or hobbies
Get ready to talk to new friends
There are three easy ways to find a pal.
1) Create an interesting forum or post a comment to an existing forum, tell us something interesting about yourself, do you have a question that you would like some opinions, what is your age range, start a conversation, make a new friend.
2) Click on a members name that you would like to be a pal with and their email will be in their contact info

Private messaging is another option available under their contact info

* Keep in mind if it appears that no one responded to a post, they may be private messaging, texting, or swapping email addresses etc.

<--- Please visit our other sites to learn about the work of Reachout America

The Benefits of Having a Pen Pal

Through Reachout America, we strive to bridge a gap between all races, creeds, social and economic backgrounds. Although our organizations primary focus is to send children with disabilities to various camps, we thoroughly enjoy connecting people who can help us deliver smiles, as well as seek to find those who want a smile. The benefits of having a Pen Pal can be very rewarding in many ways. Most of us smile in happy anticipation when a personal letter shows up in our mailbox. Kids love to get mail as well, whether it be through paper or electronically. This shows how popular and beneficial Pen Pal projects are for children and adults of all ages. Not only does this provide popularity, but it also gives individuals opportunities for lasting rewards. Many adults have given testimonies of exchanging letters as a child through which they were able to build memories and lifelong friendships.

Pen Pal correspondence also offers academic benefits. For a child that has learning disabilities or attention problems, exchanging letters with a Pen Pal can spark the motivation to obtain and improve their reading and writing skills. According to Dr. Charles MacArthur, an expert on teaching writing skills to children with learning difficulties, "When children have a regular time to write, see their writing task as meaningful, and get responses to their writing from peers, teachers and others, they are motivated to write and come to understand the purpose and values of writing." We all know from personal experience that residents greatly appreciate and enjoy receiving mail. Many residents are seldom visited by neither family or friends. For these individuals, letters are often held as precious treasures, and placed on the wall or beside their beds where they can be viewed for comfort. To make initial correspondence easier and more natural, we attempt to share information about residents interest with the Pen Pal volunteer. As a pen Pal, one will experience the joy of lifting the spirits of people who long to know that someone still cares for them. Due to their disabilities and various ailments, the residents we currently serve may need assistance in writing their Pen Pal letters. Therefore, we encourage you to get involved as a volunteer in your community by not only spending some quality time on our site but also visiting local special needs children, retirement communities or elderly neighbors in order to assist them in writing.  Smiles are contagious....Pass one on !!