Message from the Chair

Summer has returned to the Island. The Alliance has held another successful Annual Golf Tournament For Literacy. Staff and volunteers work very hard each year on this event and it is our most important fundraiser. We thank everyone involved for their dedication and hope that the success continues for the future.

As member organizations of the PEI Literacy Alliance, you share with us an understanding of what reading and writing skills bring to an individual life. That individual, once given the tools to learn, can then make a huge difference in his or her own life and that of the community.

With that in mind, as Chair of the Alliance, I urge you speak to your local MP or MLA reminding them that literacy organizations carry out a vital role in our province and across the country. Recent serious delays in funding to some of our colleagues in the region and throughout Canada have resulted in staff lay-offs and closures of some offices. This kind of “belt-tightening and accountability,” is understandable given the current financial problems of our governments but will have grave consequences not far down the road. The most vulnerable in our society will suffer.

I wish everyone a safe and sunny summer and hope to see many of you at our Annual General Meeting September 8 at The Charlottetown Hotel.

- Nora Young