Community leaders and volunteers will join Black Press and the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy on October 8 to raise awareness about the importance of literacy and to celebrate the power literacy has in the Arrow Lakes Valley.
The 4th Annual Reach a Reader campaign will raise funds for Nakusp’s community-based literacy programs.
Why? Literacy is important to all British Columbians! It impacts every aspect of our lives: healthcare, crime rates, employment and economic status. Despite its essential role in life, at least 40 per cent of B.C. adults have difficulty reading a newspaper, filling out a work application, reading a map, or understanding a lease — and this percentage is increasing.
“The Reach a Reader campaign reminds people that literacy skills are important if we are to succeed in today’s world,” says Lisa Bjarnason, Nakusp Community Literacy Coordinator. “When we hear the word literacy many of us think ‘you can read or you can’t read.’ Of course, literacy is about reading and writing, but it is also about the ability to express our ideas, think critically, and use technology. Literacy is wide and all-encompassing. Literacy is having the skills you need, to do what you want to do in your life.”
In Nakusp, funds raised will help support the Parent-Child Mother Goose Program. This program is a group experience for parents/caregivers and their babies and young children. The program introduces adults and children to the pleasure and power of using rhymes, songs, and stories together. Parents gain skills and confidence which can enable them to create positive family patterns during their children’s crucial early years. Children benefit from enjoyable, healthy early experiences with language and communication.
You can support the Reach a Reader campaign by making a donation in exchange for a special edition of the Arrow Lakes News on October 8. Volunteers will be hitting the streets with papers in hand outside Overwaitea between 9 am and 3 pm. You may also donate online at cbal.org.
To learn more about community-based literacy programs in Nakusp and area contact Lisa Bjarnason, Arrow and Slocan Lakes’ Community Literacy Coordinator, at lbjarnason@cbal.org.