Raise-A-Reader: With Golf Tournaments On Hold, The Fundraising Base Turned On A Man And A Bicycle

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When COVID put the kibosh on its annual golf tournament, Forest Legacy Foundation looked for another way to raise money for literacy awareness. Enter Matt Clayton.

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“We were thinking, ‘Well, we have to do something to raise money.’ I raised my hand and said, ‘Why don’t we ride bikes? Why not see how many kilometers we can travel and get people to commit to us or sponsor us? And the group said, ‘That’s a great idea. You’re going to be the cyclist. ‘

Clayton, who is director of the foundation, was not exactly a cycling maniac; in fact, he had to buy a bicycle. He set his goal at 1,250 kilometers in 30 days.

“Every day, I would go out for a walk,” Clayton said. “Some days I do 20k, others 100, depending on how I feel. I had to take a few days off. “People pledged to pay per kilometer or made a lump sum donation.” We really wanted to keep the fundraising going. “

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Clayton is the general manager of Kelowna-based Premium 1 Papers, a sales and marketing partner for the Canfor Specialty paper mills in Prince George and Canadian Kraft Paper in The Pas, Manitoba. Five years ago, he got involved with the West Coast Pulp Charity Invitational, the fundraising tournament organized by the Forest Legacy Foundation.

Sean Curran founded the foundation 16 years ago as a way to give back to the community and raise awareness of literacy. It is made up of six professionals from the pulp and paper and shipping industries.

“What I found was that there are some reasonably large literacy groups,” Curran said. “But most of them are grassroots, and it’s hard for people to donate. The Raise-A-Reader outreach was very important and they were able to help with the allocation of funds. And with Raise-A-Reader we would get a 100% contribution with provincial funds. “

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To date, its fundraising efforts, along with support from the British Columbia government, have contributed more than $ 1.6 million to its grantee partners, which include Raise-A-Reader and Breakfast Clubs of Canada, a school feeding program. Despite the lack of a tournament last year, the organization, with the help of Clayton, raised $ 65,000.

“Canceling the tournament was disappointing,” Curran said. “Probably now, more than ever, it is important that we continue to raise funds. Our industry is very supportive of what we are doing. People are used to it. They know that at this time of year we start to do the fundraising. “

The foundation’s plan is to host the next West Coast Pulp Charity Invitation in the spring of next year and expand its beneficiaries to include communities affected by the wildfires.

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Clayton Cycling Month took place in September of last year. The 46-year-old did most of his cycling near his home in Tsawwassen, although one day at the end of the month he drove to Prince George and brought his bike. “I rode between the different pulp mills. However, it was a shock, because it was very cold. I had to borrow work gloves. “

Looking back, he thinks the goal of 1,250 kilometers in one month was reasonable.

“It ran at 50 kilometers a day, for 25 days. That is not sloppy mileage to do every day. Some days were tough. If I missed a day I had to make up for it, so I had a couple of great rides. I think my longest was around 110. There was no way I was going to disappoint the group. “

Since then, he hasn’t kept to his 50,000-a-day schedule. But, he says, he bought a new seat. “So I’ll be riding again next week.”

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How to donate

Since its launch in 1997, Raise-a-Reader has provided more than $ 20 million to promote literacy in BC

You can make a donation at any time. That’s how:

• Online at raiseareader.com

• By phone, at 604.681.4199

• By check, payable to Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader:

1125 Howe St., # 980

Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2K8

Facebook:facebook.com/raiseareadervan/

Twitter: @RARvancouver

Literacy is a tool everyone needs

The literacy skills of nearly half of British Columbia residents aged 16 to 65 can make it difficult for them to understand newspapers, follow instruction manuals, read health information, complete a tax return, read a rental agreement, or use a catalog. library, according to Decoda. Literacy Solutions, BC’s provincial literacy organization.

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And about half of the province’s population of the same age may have a hard time calculating the interest on a car loan, using information in a graph, or determining drug dosages, according to Decoda, which provides resources, training, funding and support for community literacy. programs and initiatives in more than 400 British Columbia communities.

About 16 percent of British Columbia residents (or 700,000 people) had a literacy level of level 1 or lower in 2012, according to an international survey (the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) in the 27,000 Canadians participated.

Level 1 literacy means struggling to fill out a form at work, navigate a website, find information on a list sent home from preschool, use information on a food label, or compare prices.

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It says that improved literacy at home can help Canadians enjoy better health, manage their finances, understand their rights and responsibilities and legal procedures, and pass their literacy skills on to their children.

At work, you can also improve job prospects, increase earnings, decrease work-related stress by being more efficient and precise at work, and increase your chances of participating in adult education and work-related training. .

And in the community, it can increase community participation and volunteerism, political participation, and increase the likelihood of inclusion in society.