Raise a Reader, the annual fundraising campaign for local literacy projects, will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Prince George.
Residents will see volunteers in bright orange T-shirts hawking a special edition of the Prince George Citizen for donations from 7 to 9 a.m. at prime locations across the city.
Last year there were more than 120 volunteers that took part, raising about $4,800 in cash with sponsors, grants and the government matching funds rounding it up to $40,000 that was directly put into community programs in Prince George.
Volunteers are needed to offer the papers to patrons at Tim Hortons drive thru locations, A&W locations and busy downtown street corners.
"Last year was a banner year," said Andrea Palmer, communications coordinator of the Prince George Public Library and a member of the Raise a Reader organizing committee. "We got a massive donation from the West Coast Pulp Charity Invitational so by the time we added up the cash donations, sponsorships, the grant from West Coast Pulp and matching funds from the Province of B.C Minister of Education, we were well over $40,000, which we distributed to 29 literacy initiatives in our community. That's going to be a tough one to meet or beat."
Teams come from all over the community, including Northern Health, UNBC, CNC, Telus, the Prince George Citizen and the Prince George Public Library as well at Shirley Bond's constituency office team, although Bond will be out of town this year, and Councillor Lyn Hall has already confirmed all he needs is an orange shirt for his participation.
Despite the conflict between the school district teachers and the provincial government, the Raise a Reader organizers are inviting teachers and students to volunteer as usual, said Palmer.
Funding goes to literacy programs like Connecting Children Through Story (Weaving Words), which is part of the program offered at the UNBC First Nations Centre. The YMCA has a Neighbourhood Scholars program, which is an early childhood learning literacy program to build kindergarten preparedness for local children between the ages of three and five. Success by Six does a program called Play and Learn Together that supports children's healthy growth and development, while the library has a program called Books for Babies, which see new parents getting a bag filled with books and CDs that are given away at the hospital as well as being offered to midwives for their clients, as well.
To volunteer or for more information e-mail [email protected].
