A contribution from the forest products industry is helping to close the adult literacy gap in Prince George.
Eight local organizations are the beneficiaries of a $22,000 contribution from the Forest Legacy Foundation, consisting of representatives of Domtar, West Fraser Timber, Canfor and Mercer.
The foundation hosts a golf tournament each year and has given funding to literacy through the Vancouver-based Raise a Reader campaign. This year, funds were placed directly in each of the communities where companies have mills.
"The reason I get access to it is because I'm part of a provincial network of literacy outreach co-ordintaors and also we have Canfor here," said Prince George co-ordinator Helen Domshy.
When she heard the amount coming her way, Domshy said thought she was going to pass out from delight. "I don't think anyone could catch in a word how thrilled I was," she said. "That's a lot of money. I run the whole show on [$30,000] for the year."
Programs spanning the whole family will get support from this batch of funding, from early childhood to adult literacy.
The groups splitting the money are: The Child Development Centre of Prince George and District, Learning Difficulties Centre of B.C., Northern John Howard Society, Prince George Native Friendship Centre, Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, South Fort George Family Resource Centre and Vantage Vision and Reading.
Among the projects are literacy assessments at the jail and one-on-one tutoring programs. Parents who are incarcerated or otherwise separated from their families can also record themselves reading a book and send it to their children through the correctional centre or John Howard Society.
John Howard is also offering a space space for those who begin tutelage in jail and want to continue it after their release.
"Family literacy is really important," Domshy said. "In fact, the first five years I did this job we did a real fast survey of what was going on in Prince George and we found that the gap was in adult literacy."
Cheques going to the other organizations will also facilitate running initiatives such as a Mother Goose parent-child program, parenting skills and infant development programs, free tutoring and pre-Kindergarten school prep.
Domshy said the support from the foundation may continue if this round of funding proves to generate positive results.
"This is good PR for them as well, and it should be. This is a lot of money and we are a mill town," Domshy said. "It's about time some kind of partnerships like this came up. We're so lucky."
