Tech Connects Firefighters With Their Families Back Home Through Face-To-Face, Digital Storytime App

MIAMI, Aug. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Caribu, a video calling and reading app for children and their families, announced the Caribu Firefighter Family Initiative (www.caribu.com/brave). The initiative provides free subscriptions of Caribu for all firefighters, their families and anyone impacted by the recent wildfires, including firefighters from Australia and New Zealand. The Caribu Firefighter Family Initiative was inspired by veteran firefighter, Brendan McDonough, and his personal story of staying connected to his young daughter while he was away on duty, as well as the fact that this wildfire season has been the largest and most impactful on record.

In a recent television interview, McDonough, sole survivor of the Yarnell Hill Fire tragedy of 2013 and inspiration behind the 2017 film "Only the Brave," relayed how reading bedtime stories to his young daughter on the road gave his morale a boost.

"While fighting wildfires, we would be gone from home constantly," said McDonough. "Being able to read to my daughter at night kept me motivated. I support the Caribu Firefighter Family Initiative because I want to help bring that small, but really important, experience to firefighters and their families."

Upon hearing McDonough's story, Maxeme Tuchman, CEO of Caribu, was moved to act. Tuchman quickly realized that her innovative technology could solve a real and urgent need for firefighters on the front lines and immediately wanted to do something to help.

"We're so proud to be able to show our support for the firefighters that are dedicated to our safety and keeping the wildfires at bay," said Tuchman. "We offer free access to all active members of the military; it just made sense to do the same for wildland firefighters who are also away from home for long stretches of time. If Caribu can make just one part of keeping our heroes close to their families easier, we've done our job."

Caribu makes virtual story time easily accessible to parents and only requires a smartphone and a data plan or Wi-Fi. It gives instant access to a digital library with hundreds of children's books, in six languages, and workbooks that can be drawn on together in real-time. Caribu is currently working with multiple local and national firefighter organizations to distribute the digital donations of the app.

For more information on the Caribu Firefighter Family Initiative, visit www.caribu.com/brave.

About Caribu
Caribu is an education platform that helps parents, extended family, and mentors to read and draw with children, in an interactive video-call, from anywhere in the world. The result is an engaging shared screen experience that is carefully designed, curated, and secure. An in-app library is filled with hundreds of titles from leading children's publishers, in six languages, and educational workbooks that can be drawn on simultaneously. The company serves customers in over 140 countries, has won numerous international and national awards, and is backed by great partners such as AT&T, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Toyota. Through a partnership with Blue Star Families, Caribu is free for all currently serving U.S. military. For more information, visit: www.caribu.com

SOURCE Caribu

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http://www.caribu.com