Generous citizens, the local newspaper and the region’s literacy campaign made the perfect fundraising trifecta on Wednesday.
The Trail Daily Times, along with Black Press publications throughout the Kootenays, joined forces with the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) in an effort to raise funds for the valuable community program.
Throughout Wednesday morning Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs, Councilor Eleanor Gattafoni Robinson and members of the Trail Smoke Eaters and Beaver Valley Nitehawks were handing out free issues of the Times for donations to the CBAL.
The community responded by donating over $840 in a matter of a couple of hours.
“For us this is huge,” said Desneiges Profili, community literacy coordinator for the CBAL.
“We have never done anything of this magnitude. And there’s no way we could have done it without the help of Black Press, the Trail Times and the volunteers.”
Profili said the entire Reach a Reader campaign, which included advertisements and articles in publications throughout the region, helped raise awareness of the program in each community.
She pointed to a recent Times article on helping seniors get online.
“We had 38 calls on it,” she said.
The program opened up a second class and already there’s a waiting list to join.
Barb Blatchford, publisher of the Trail Times, said Black Press’s involvement was a natural match.
“It was a perfect fit for us,” she said. “And it’s been a learning experience for me finding out about all the programs CBAL offers.”
Profili said all funds raised during the campaign would help support the program.
“This is the beginning of something great.”