WINNIPEG – CanWest’s Raise-a-Reader national fundraiser collected nearly $2.24 million for literacy programs across Canada last Thursday.
Thousands of volunteers and CanWest newspaper and TV employees in all 10 provinces took to the streets to raise money for local literacy programs in each of the 18 participating markets: Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown, and St. John’s. They were joined by celebrity hawkers such as former NHL coach Jacques Demers in Montreal, Alex Steen of the Maple Leafs in Toronto, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell in Vancouver, and Laureen Harper in the national capital.
“This enthusiasm and success is unmatched,” said Leonard Asper, President and CEO of CanWest Global Communications Corp. “Raise-a-Reader is now an established national literacy initiative, and our generous sponsors and participating newspapers both in our own company and outside of CanWest, share a common commitment to family literacy and the importance of providing resources and funds. One of our core values is to give back to the community and in that regard I am extraordinarily proud of the efforts of all involved.”
The 2006 tally is almost 20% higher than the amount raised in the same campaign last year.
