The SaskTel Pioneers know the value of a good book. And, with the new school year drawing near, they spent August helping First Book Canada collect new books and resources for Saskatchewan teachers to use as they sow the seeds of literacy in classrooms province wide.

“It’s so important to provide our children with access to quality books,” said Darrell Liebrecht, SaskTel Pioneer Manager. “Literacy is crucial to kids’ success later in life. And, even though it’s a lot of work we are excited to see communities all over the province get behind our second annual campaign.”

While local SaskTel Pioneers Clubs participated in communities across the province, on August 14, 15 and 16, the campaign came to a frenzied conclusion with volunteers from the Regina club busily sorting and distributing well over 12,000 books at the University of Regina’s Riddell Centre as part of their partnership with First Book Canada and the University of Regina’s Student Union (URSU).

“We were so pleased to provide our facilities to the SaskTel Pioneers and look forward to other collaborative community support ventures in the future,” said Carl Flis, URSU’s General Manager. “URSU believes that community outreach initiatives are an integral component of preparing students for life after university […] partnering with the SaskTel Pioneers on their First Book initiative just seemed like a natural fit.”

“Books are heavy, so thankfully we had a few extra volunteers this year to help load them into the cars,” said Darrell. And, they certainly needed the extra hands. Over the three-day event, Teachers and other education professionals had the chance to books to take back to their classrooms, with each one averaging over 150 books each.

“URSU has been very fortunate over the years to have received considerable support from SaskTel in many of its initiatives and programs […] when we learned that the SaskTel Pioneers were facing some challenges this year with their First Book initiative, we jumped at the opportunity to assist and give back to our sponsor and the community” said Carl.

Working with schools, libraries and other partners across the country, First Book Canada helps ensure that all children, regardless of their family’s financial situation, can have access to new, high-quality books both at home and in the classroom. And, although a majority of books are donated to First Book Canada by publishers or book sellers who have surplus copies of publications, many are purchased and donated with money raised by local partners.

Across the province, the SaskTel Pioneers raised $4,000 that went to ordering books that were delivered to schools throughout Saskatchewan.

Find out more about the SaskTel Pioneers here. Or find out more about First Books Canada by visiting their website.