Literacy: the Ripple Effect – Celebrating BC Literacy Month
The Centennial Park Stage was lit up in purple on Sunday, September 8 in recognition of BC Literacy Month, and the positive effects improving literacy can have on individuals, families and communities.
This year’s theme is Literacy: The Ripple Effect, because as Jessica Kalman, executive director of the Fort St. John Literacy Society says, “Improved literacy skills have a powerful ripple effect that positively impacts nearly every aspect of life, at home, at work and in the community.”
The Fort St. John Literacy Society was established in 1990, and for nearly 35 years the non-profit organization has been dedicated seeing literacy in the community improve. That dedication is carried out in part by delivering diverse community programming which promotes literacy and provides learning opportunities for all ages, in a supportive setting.
Over 700,000 people in British Columbia struggle with literacy, to assist with overcoming these challenges, the provincial literacy organization, Decoding Literacy Solutions, along with the Fort St. John Literacy Society are encouraging everyone to support literacy programs in BC through the #PutOnYourPurple and #LiteracyRippleEffect campaigns this month.
The local events kicked off on September 7 with a Community Tie-Dye Fundraising Party during the Moose FM Block Party in Centennial Park.
Other events this month include the annual Radiothon on September 17 at Safeway to raise funds to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library children’s book program. Seven hundred children under 5-years-old are currently enrolled in the program, said Kalman. The program is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books to children under age 5, to support the development of literacy skills.
Established in 2018, the Imagination Library is in need of funding to continue. The 700 children enrolled in the program represent just 25 percent of children under 5 in the area, and the Literacy Society wants to be able to fund and grow the program to provide books to 50 percent of the region’s children – approximately 1,500 children – by 2026-27.
The annual Glow Run takes place at Kin Park on September 20 at 7:30 p.m., this is another fundraising event to support not only literacy programming, but to enhance and expand the free literacy programs and workshops the Society offers to the community.
For more information on the programs the Literacy Society offers, check out the Fort St. John Literacy Society’s Facebook page or their website.