This year, over 600 Canadian High-Needs Elementary Schools will benefit from this local fundraiser.
TORONTO, Sept. 14, 2018 /CNW/ - The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation is pleased to launch its annual Adopt a School program running from September 15 to October 7, 2018. Now in its 10th year, Adopt a School connects Indigo employees, high-needs elementary schools and their communities to fundraise locally and raise awareness about the underfunding of public Canadian elementary school libraries. All participating schools receive every dollar raised for their school and are eligible for a donation match of up to $1,200 per school from the Foundation.
Last year, the program provided over $1 million to Canadian high-needs schools for books and educational resources. This year, the Foundation will provide support to local school libraries across the country with over 600 schools signed up to participate.
"We believe that the right book at the right moment can change a child's life forever and yet too many children in high-needs elementary schools have limited access to books due to insufficient funding. All children deserve access to compelling books that can inspire them to fall in love with reading and to become engaged learners," said Ariel Siller, Executive Director of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.
Indigo Books & Music Inc., a proudly Canadian company committed to building literacy, founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004. Through the Foundation's two signature programs, Adopt a School and the Literacy Fund Grant, the Foundation aims to raise a groundswell of awareness about the lack of funding for public Canadian school libraries, while helping to put more books into the hands of children.
Current school budgets only allow for one new library book a year for every three children in many schools in economically disadvantaged communities in Canada.1 With teachers spending more than $200 million of their own money each year on books and resources2, Adopt a School aims to help provide much needed resources for schools across the country. These funds are essential to building literacy in Canada, where a shocking 30% of Grade 3 students lack basic literacy skills.3
How to get involved:
All participating schools have their own page on the online fundraising platform, adoptaschool.indigo.ca. Those interested in supporting a high-needs elementary school can donate directly to the participating school of their choice. The online platform also provides opportunities to support a local school with no donation required. When supporters share a story on a school's online page, the Foundation will donate a book to the selected school, up to 20 books for each school. In addition, online users can "heart" these stories and the top five most "hearted" stories in each province will win additional funds.
A select number of schools will also be adopted by an Indigo, Chapters, or Coles store and will receive all the donations made at that store during the program.
All participating schools benefit from a 30% discount off books at Indigo when using program donations.
For more information about how to get involved visit adoptaschool.indigo.ca
To learn more about the Foundation and its programs visit loveofreading.org
About the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation
Indigo Books & Music Inc. founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public elementary school libraries. To date, the Foundation has committed $28 million to more than 3,000 high-needs schools, impacting over 900,000 children. The Foundation runs two signature programs each year. In May 2018, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Literacy Fund grants committed $1.5 million to 30 high-needs elementary schools that lack the resources to build and maintain healthy school libraries. To date, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation's Literacy Fund has committed $21 million to more than 275 schools nationally. Additionally, each fall, the Foundation's annual grassroots Adopt a School program unites the Foundation with Indigo, its employees, its customers and their communities to raise funds to support high-needs elementary schools across Canada and put even more books into the hands of children. In October 2017, the Indigo Adopt a School program contributed over $1 million to more than 550 schools across Canada, impacting more than 185,000 children. To learn more about the Foundation, visit www.loveofreading.org
1 Data collected from the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Literacy Fund grant program and the Indigo Adopt a School program.
2 Canadian Teachers' Federation, News Release: Teachers go out of pocket $453 on materials and activities for their students (July 12, 2010); Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey – Occupation, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-012- X2011033.
3 The Ontario EQAO study and the PISA study read in aggregate indicate that only 70% of students are meeting provincial reading standards in Grade 3 and the remaining approximately 30% of students fail to meet such standards. http://www.eqao.com/en/about_eqao/media_room/communication-docs/infographic-2017-elementary-results.pdf; https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/365/PISA2015-CdnReport-EN.pdf
SOURCE Indigo Love of Reading Foundation
For media requests please contact: Kate Gregory, [email protected], Indigo Books & Music Inc., O: 416-364-4499 Ext. 6659; Marni Zaretsky, [email protected], MSL Canada, O: 416-847-1300
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