By Adam Donnelly

Kamloops kicks off January literacy campaign

Jan 11, 2016 | 9:27 AM

KAMLOOPS — It doesn’t get much better than sitting on Mom’s lap and reading a good book, at least not for five year-old Macy Doll.

She and her Mom, Maureen, were at Kamloops Honda Saturday to Heap the Honda with new and gently used children’s books. Reading is a big part of family time for Maureen and Macy. “One of her favourite things to do is just to sit there and listen to us read story, after story, after story, after story,” said Maureen, who is the co-ordinator of the Kamloops Early Language and Literacy Initiative, or KELLI.

This is the 7th annual edition of the Heap the Honda book drive. All books donated will help stock the 22 Bright Red Bookshelves found throughout the city. Fiona Clare, with Literacy in Kamloops, says Heap the Honda has a simple goal. “The purpose of the project [is] to increase book ownership for all families; to make… good quality books accessible to all families, so that all children have books at home, that they can just go to at any time, and read, and just encourage that love of reading,” said Clare.

Local MP, Cathy McLeod, as well as BC Health Minister Terry Lake were on hand, and brought books to help load up the Honda CRV. For Lake, the importance of literacy goes far beyond a love of books. “Literacy is one of the keys to getting a foundation of good education,” said the Kamloops-North Thompson MLA. “That makes a tremendous difference in people’s lives.”

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On January 23rd, Unplug and Play will kick off an entire week of events and activities for families who want to cut down on recreational screen time for their kids. Some of the books collected during the Heap the Honda event will be distributed then. You can drop off your books at Kamloops Honda, or at the Kamloops and North Kamloops libraries, as well as any Bright Red Bookshelf location. It’s all part of a three week campaign to bring families together through literacy. If you want to help out with the literacy campaign, or have books to drop off, you have until January 30th.