United Through Reading and Military Families Magazine partnered in 2020 for the 15th annual Read for the Record campaign — a high-visibility annual fall campaign engaging over 2 million participants reading the same book on the same day.
This year’s Read for the Record book focuses on the story of a young girl who is saying goodbye to her best friend who is moving away. “Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away” takes readers through a scene where Evelyn’s house is emptied, but the girls continue to play their favorite games until it is time to say goodbye.
“This story made my heart hurt for my little girl who has had to say goodbye to her friends so many times,” Coast Guard Lt. Lauren Gonzales, who participated as a reader in the video, said.
“But it also is a great resource to have for her as we prepare for another move this summer. It’s a sweet book.”
Read for the Record is a global early literacy campaign, sponsored by Jumpstart — an organization dedicated to the development and education of children before they enter kindergarten, that brings together adults and children around the world to read the same book on the same day. It provides language, literacy and social-emotional resources for under-provided communities around the country.
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The Read for the Record campaign happens every fall in an effort to increase awareness of the importance of early literacy and make high-quality children’s books accessible to all children.
United Through Reading has similar goals — to provide high-quality books for military service members to read to their children even when they can’t be home.
“United Through Reading has long participated in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. We were so excited this year that their selection “Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away” is perfect for military kids who know first hand what it’s like to move away from their best friends, and we are proud to have sent it around the world for military families to read together with our free mobile app,” Dr. Sally Ann Zoll, CEO of United Through Reading, said in a statement via email.
United Through Reading gave away more than 1,000 copies of “Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away” at select Army MWR libraries, recording events around the country, and to its app users.
This year, in partnership with Military Families Magazine, United Through Reading created a video to highlight 2020’s Read for the Record book, “Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away.” The video was shot aboard the USCGC Ingham in Key West, Florida. All branches of the military were represented in this video, with service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force participating as readers.
Watch the video below to listen to “Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away.” You can also download the UTR app to read more stories like this one to the special military kids in your life.
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense visual information does not imply or constitute endorsement.
A special thank you to the USCGC Ingham, DockLight Productions and Maria Reed, as well as to all of our readers:
- Staff Sgt. Angel Rodriquez, Army
- Senior Airman Bridget Coffey, Air Force
- Capt. Dustyn Carroll, Space Force
- Maj. James Lomsdale, Marine Corps
- Lt. Lauren Gonzales, Coast Guard
- Lt. Paul McCarthy, Navy
