Read Aloud walk to benefit children’s literacy June 13

With gyms and fitness centers having been closed around the country, many people have turned to walking for exercise.

Read Aloud Delaware invites community members to turn that daily walk into a mission to support children’s literacy.

Read Aloud Delaware will host a satellite walk to support the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. This annual event, traditionally one of the program’s biggest fundraisers, has gone virtual this year due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Sussex County supporters, the Sussex Striders, will meet at  9 a.m., Saturday, June 13, at the Herring Point parking lot in Cape Henlopen State Park, or around 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot at North Shores/Gordons Pond to walk, jog or bike, with social distancing, into Rehoboth and back. Virtual participants can opt to do their own activity anytime between June 1 and June 30.

All participants are urged to reach out to family and friends to ask for their support for this event. Last year’s event raised $20,000 for Read Aloud Delaware. “This year we set an audacious goal to raise $30,000,” said James Spadola, Read Aloud Delaware executive director.

Much has been discussed over the last few months about essential and non-essential endeavors. “This is a great opportunity for all of us to remind everyone that literacy is essential,” said Spadola.

“Learning to read is essential in order to create a literate society,” said Stacy Penaranda, Read Aloud Delaware Sussex County coordinator.

The statewide program and its volunteers work to ensure that each preschool child is read to one-on-one on a regular basis. Prior to the current shutdowns, Sussex County’s 270 volunteers read to children in 41 Head Start locations, child care centers, preschools and kindergartens.

“Just think about how the children we reach might someday teach others to read,” said Penaranda. “We are creating lifelong readers and getting books into the hands of the students who need to increase their at-home access to age-appropriate, quality literature.”

Penaranda suggests sponsorships of $5 or $10. “That’s money that many of us are saving on gas or eating out. Every little bit helps us to continue positively impacting Delaware’s children.”

Congress has passed legislation which will allow taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions to claim up to $300 in charitable donations on their 2020 tax returns.

To register to be a part of the Sussex Striders team or to make a donation, go to www.walkforahealthycommunity.org and search the Wilmington location. Click register now or donate now and find the link to Read Aloud Delaware and the Sussex Striders. Donations also can be mailed directly to the Sussex County Read Aloud office at 108 N. Bedford St., Georgetown, DE 19947.