It’s that time of year again.
No, not sending the kids back to school after a long and steamy summer. But that annual ritual isn’t too far from this particular mark. And it does have something to do with school, especially if you have or know kids who go to an increasingly large number of schools who can’t afford to provide students with adequate libraries or reading resources.
Because this is also the time of year when your local Indigo and Chapters bookstores use their Love of Reading Foundation to support individual local schools.
Indigo’s Love of Reading foundation raises money for high need public elementary schools all year long, but for a few weeks every autumn stores in Canada’s biggest book and lifestyle retailer each adopt a single school. And every dollar they raise during that window goes to support that school’s often lacking (usually antiquated) library.
This year Indigo’s Adopt-A-School program runs from September 15th through to October 7th.
Potential schools can make applications beginning in the spring to be adopted the following fall. A committee evaluates the applications over the course of the summer, examining schools on a number of criteria. Including how engaged a potential schools may be in the fundraising process. It ins’t uncommon for school officials and store management to become temporary and even wind up on each other’s Christmas card list.
A quick look on the Indigo website reveals that Indigo has raised over 28 million dollars since 2004, supporting over 3000 public schools in the same span. It’s estimated that the fund has helped over 900,000 students from the country’s biggest cities to small rural communities to places as far north as Iqaluit.
As public school budgets tighten and are sometimes cut, libraries are often the first thing on the chopping block. In many schools, parents and communities can step in and fill a sizeable portion of that economic void. But in many others that simply isn’t an option. Sometimes schools starved for funding exist right next door to ones supported by affluent parents and community organizations.
Indigo’s Adopt-A-School program is designed to help ease that burden.
The following is a list of schools individual Indigo and Chapters stores in Ottawa are supporting until Oct. 7. If you’re in the neighbourhood drop in and leave a buck or two. Any investment in the future is smart one.
Indigo Pinecrest (2735 Pinecrest Ave.): D. Roy Kennedy Public School
Chapters Rideau (47 Rideau St.): Ecole Elementary St. Anne
Chapters South Keys (2210 Bank St.): Dunlop Public School
Indigo Innes (2025 Mer-Bleu Ave.): Emily Carr Public School
Indigo Barrhaven (125 Riocan Ave.):
Indigo Kanata (400 Earl Grey Dr.): W.Erskine Johnston Public School
Chapters Gloucester (2401 City Park Dr.): St. Brother Andre
Prospero Books (128 Bank St.): Chalres H. Hulse Public
Donations and support can also be made online. Visit Indigo’s website here for more details on how you can give today.
Image via Indigo.ca
