Adopt-a-Reader 2020

Spreading the Love of Reading from Coast to Coast

The 2020 Adopt-a-Reader Campaign is a truly unique one! This year, families hit 527,015 minutes of reading aloud in the span of two weeks – that’s the highest ever.

On Family Day, Mothers Matter Canada launched its sixth annual Adopt-a-Reader Campaign.  HIPPY parents were invited to adopt non-HIPPY parents to read to their children for 15 minutes a day for 15 days. With the help of First Book Canada and 15 of MMC’s HIPPY sites, 5,277 free books were distributed to newcomer, refugee, and Indigenous children across Canada.  Each family received two books to read to their children and, as a gift, a third book at the end of the campaign.

At the end of the 15 days, HIPPY sites organized Celebration of Reading events to reward the participating families with certificates and their third book and recognize their dedication to reading throughout the campaign.  This year, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, only a handful of celebrations took place before social distancing policies were implemented. The sites that celebrated in early March brought the community of readers together to share fun reading activities, food, and laughter.

Connecting through Books

Children look forward to snuggling with their parent and bonding over the pages of a beautifully illustrated book. In these valuable moments, children enjoy the attention of their parent while simultaneously delving into a world of adventure and imagination. `This year saw an exceptional participation of fathers who read to their children and attended Celebration of Reading events

Not only does the campaign give families a healthy and imaginative activity that replaces screen time, but it also sparks the love of reading in children at a young age.  Through beautifully illustrated books and creative stories, children quickly learn the valuable insights hidden within books.  For children of isolated and vulnerable families, books are a luxury they often cannot access. Once again, First Book Canada generously provided all the books in the campaign, free of charge to the families.

The campaign is also an excellent way to introduce new families to the HIPPY program and recruit them to join the HIPPY community. Alicja Richards, who is now a Coordinator at CAIWA, was introduced to HIPPY through the Adopt-a-Reader program:

I was introduced to HIPPY through the Adopt-a-Reader program. It was completely new to me, because we don’t do anything like this in Poland. The books quickly became important to my daughter and me, and the memories of reading with her when she was so little are special to me.  Being part of the program introduced me to other mothers and to the special friends I made from HIPPY.  I became a Home Visitor to share the same things that I did!

Partners

Mothers Matter Canada is grateful to all HIPPY sites across Canada that participated in the Adopt-a-Reader campaign and to all the Coordinators and Home Visitors who worked hard in recruiting families, delivering books, and organizing Celebration of Reading events. 

First Book Canada believes a child’s education is their way out of poverty. They work with educators and partners to identify and remove the barriers to learning and resources, creating equal access to quality education and transforming the lives of kids in need. The MMC appreciates all the hard work and dedication undertaken by the First Book Canada staff to assemble, package and deliver all the books to the sites. 

This year’s campaign was made possible thanks to the generosity of MMC Executive Board Member, Bruce Flexman and his fundraising campaign. MMC thanks all those who donated generously to put a beautiful book in the hands of a young child thirsty for reading.

To all our partners, thank you!