Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

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Literacy in Kamloops preparing for annual Raise-A-Reader fundraiser

Aug 19, 2020 | 4:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — Literacy is one of the most important — and one of the most underrated — skills a person can possess, yet it’s estimated almost half of Canadians have literacy skills that fall below a high school level. That’s one of the reasons why Raise-A-Reader week is so important.

Raise-A-Reader is a week-long celebration of literacy that helps raise funds for programs that promote literacy across Canada. In our city, Raise-A-Reader is run by Literacy in Kamloops and supports programs that help learners at every level improve their literacy skills. Many of those programs have been negatively impacted by the COIVD-19 pandemic.

“In-person support has probably been what’s most challenging for us,” Literacy in Kamloops Coordinator Fiona Clare tells CFJC Today. “We’re not sure when schools open in September whether we’ll be able to have out volunteers go in and do that one-to-one tutoring. A lot of our adult learners, who have very low literacy, it’s been very challenging for them. They haven’t always had the know-how or the technology resources to connect with the tutors online.”

Raise-A-Reader Week officially kicks off in a little less than a month; however, Clare says the regular event which features hundreds of volunteers scattered across dozens of locations in Kamloops isn’t an option because of the pandemic. So they’ve taken the fundraising online this year.

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“We’re just hoping that people will still support Raise-A-Reader by going to our Raise-A-Reader.ca online donation portal,” Clare says. “Click on the community you want to donate to — if you’re in Kamloops, hopefully, you’ll donate to Kamloops — it’s open. It’s live now, so people can donate. It’ll run through the month of September. Actual Raise-A-Reader week is September 18th to 25th.”

Clare adds there will be some Raise-A-Reader events leading up to and during that week, including the Spelling Bee. To make a donation, you can visit www.raiseareader.ca.