RAND’s 2025 Book Bingo Challenge: Reading, Connecting, and Giving Back
This year marked the 12th Annual RAND Reading Bingo Challenge, a tradition that’s become a fun and meaningful way to start the year. From January through April, our team and friends and family took part in this friendly competition - reading, recommending, and raising funds for a cause we believe in.
How It Works
Each participant receives a Bingo card filled with creative reading prompts, from specific genres to award-winning titles and recommended reads. The goal is simple: complete five squares in a row to score a Bingo. First-time reads of 250 pages or more fill a square, and longer books can count toward additional squares. For those wanting an extra challenge, “Hard Mode” adds secondary requirements and boosts the charity donation. Throughout the event, we also share special RAND Gives Back (RGB) Challenges that can be used to fill any square, adding variety and flexibility.
What We Accomplished in 2025
This year’s results speak for themselves:
- 357 Bingo squares filled
- 32 RGB Challenges completed
- 97 Hard Mode books read
- 77 Bingos achieved
- 328 books read (285 unique titles)
- 109,420 total pages read
All of this reading helped support My Own Books, a nonprofit that works with third graders in Title I schools across New York City to enhance child literacy by empowering students to select and own books. For every book read and every Hard Mode square completed, RAND Gives Back contributes to the donation total. This year’s collective effort resulted in a $3,000 donation, fully funded through our RAND Gives Back program.
RAND Gives Back is our company’s charitable initiative that supports education, housing, and health-related organizations - causes that reflect the interests of our employees and the communities we serve. Book Bingo is just one of the many ways we engage our team while giving back, turning individual participation into a shared effort to support meaningful causes.
A Big Thank You
The success of this challenge wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of RAND Human Resources Associate Jennie Galezo, who organized and administered this year’s event. From managing Bingo cards and logs to keeping everyone engaged and updated, Jennie was the steady hand turning each page of the 12th annual challenge. Thank you, Jennie, for all the time, effort, and care you put into making this chapter of RAND’s Book Bingo another great one.
Why We Keep Coming Back
Reading Bingo has become a company favorite, not just for the competition, but for the chance to share books, connect across teams, and support child literacy efforts. Whether participants are crossing off a few favorite squares or aiming for a full card (or even a second one!) the challenge is an easy, enjoyable way to engage and give back. Over the years, donations from the challenge have supported organizations like Pajama Program, Reach Out and Read, and now My Own Books, helping children build their own home libraries.
We’re proud of what we achieved this year and are already looking forward to next year’s challenge.
For more about My Own Books, visit myownbooks.org.
