Birch Family Services in the News: Read for the Record at Pelham Bay Early Childhood Center

News 12 New York was on the scene at Birch Family Services’s Pelham Bay Early Childhood Center in the Bronx yesterday morning to capture the program’s Read for the Record festivities, just one of the many held at all of our nine early childhood and school age education programs.

 

 

VIPs on hand at Pelham Bay to help preK students celebrate the importance of literacy included, NYC Councilman Mark Gjonaj (District 13); Monsignor Thomas Dervian of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church; Matt Cruz, the District Manager of Bronx Community Board 10; and Lauren Uruchima, Senior Children’s Librarian of the NY Public Library, Pelham Bay Branch in the Bronx.

For the 14th year, Read for the Record brought together millions of adults and children as they read the same book on the same day to build an intergenerational community through reading. Since its inception, more than 20 million people have participated in the event, and hundreds of thousands of books have been distributed to children in underserved communities across the country.

This year’s book, Thank You, Omu! is a Caldecott Honor Book and author Oge Mora is the winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award. Thank You, Omu! tells the story of a generous elderly woman who makes a fantastic pot of thick red stew. The scent from her stew travels all throughout her neighborhood and brings all of her community members over to her home for a taste. By the end, she shares a lovely feast with her neighbors where everyone contributes to the meal. And it’s not just for kids! This a wonderful story of friendship and community to share with people of all ages.