The NWT Literacy Council is a non-profit organization and a registered charity. We are funded by various levels of government (municipal, territorial and federal), as well as foundations, industry, and partnerships with other organizations, to carry out projects within the NWT that focus on many different aspects of literacy. These include Family Literacy, Youth Literacy, Adult Literacy, English Language and Literacy for Newcomers to Canada, Indigenous Languages support, and the list goes on.
You might wonder: if this organization is funded, why should I donate to them?
When you hit the “donate” button on our website, or mail in a cheque, you can designate what your money will help to support. Many programs that we offer are not funded and rely on corporate sponsors or fundraising.
These are a few of the programs that your donation can support:
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides books to children from birth to their fifth birthday. This program is offered throughout the NWT and is funded by various corporate and private sponsors, as well as by fundraising. All children within the age range are eligible to apply to receive books. This program instills a love for books and reading at a young age, and it is very exciting for children to receive books in the mail each month. If a child signs up when they are born, they could build a library of 60 books by their fifth birthday!
- The Bison Bus mobile family literacy centre visits festivals, special events and communities with road access in the NWT. The bus is equipped with learning activities, puzzles, crafts, games and of course books! Our Family Literacy staff love to take the Bison Bus on the road in the summer to visit children in our communities. The bus was purchased with donations and we use donations to pay for gas, tires and maintenance.
- Reading Together is a family literacy program that operates at the North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC). Fathers in NSCC have the opportunity to encourage their children’s literacy development by creating bedtime kits which are sent to their children. The kits include a video of the father reading a story for his children, along with special messages, the chosen book, a set of pajamas, an oral hygiene kit, and fleece no-sew blankets that the fathers have created.
You can also choose to donate to our general fund. This fund allows us to be flexible in supporting literacy projects that aren’t covered by other funding. It could be our Youth Medicine Walk project in Tulita in the summer of 2024, sending a set of books into a community for a youth-led book club, or supporting someone from our Empowering Northern Youth program with the things needed to continue their education in another community.
However you choose to spend your money on Giving Tuesday, we applaud your generosity and thank you for supporting the many wonderful organizations in the NWT, across the country and beyond.
- Kathryn Barry Paddock, Executive Director
