Our Donor Love Month is all about showing the amazing people, organizations, and businesses behind the work we do – the people who make it all possible. 

 

A beautiful example of a group of people who have made a huge difference to ONFE and to the children we serve is the Ottawa team of BLG Reads to Kids. Over the course of 17 years, they have partnered with us to found two different ONFE programs, and their employees have devoted hours of their time to making local schools better.  

 

Since 2003, BLG Reads to Kids has worked with ONFE as a founding OttawaReads partner, donating over $100,000 to support literacy skills in children in grades K to 3. That’s 17 years of sharing the joy of reading! 

 

OttawaReads volunteers go into K-3 classrooms to read one-on-one with children. “If you speak with BLG Reads to Kids readers, they won’t hesitate to tell you that the one-on-one time they spend with students is the best 60-minutes of their week. It’s a great feeling to be standing at a classroom door and immediately see a dozen hands shoot up with a chorus of ‘Pick me! Pick me!’” says Jane Bachynski, Senior Associate with BLG.  

 

Through the program, BLG Reads to Kids volunteers have formed a strong bond with Queen Elizabeth Public School, consistently volunteering there and getting to know the students and teachers in their neighbourhood. We love seeing this relationship carry through the years, as a wonderful example of ONFE’s mission to connect the community to support student success. 

 

 

In 2009, BLG Reads to Kids decided to increase their contribution to their local schools by working with ONFE to found Give Back To School Days. This program recruits teams of corporate volunteers to do clean-up, gardening, murals, and other improvements on school properties. By spearheading this program, BLG Reads to Kids galvanized other businesses and organizations to do the same.  

 

We are grateful to BLG Reads to Kids and their longstanding partnership, and innovative approach to sponsorship!