Telephone Pioneers of America is a group of volunteers who work in and are sponsored by companies in the Telecommunications sector. The association has been around for 100 years and works on several charitable projects at a time. These include: Blankets of Honor - lap blankets for veterans and injured returning soldiers; Book'em - a program that encourages children in grade school to read; and Hug-a-Bears - stuffed teddy bears that the volunteers make and send to hospitals, children's homes and to soldiers who have been deployed.