September 2018

Book Clubs for Inmates September Update

Dear Friends,

If you remember your days at school, September is often associated with fresh starts and new beginnings. Our book clubs members are similarly excited about cracking open their new books to begin another season of book clubs. 

Sometimes we forget the power and freedom that reading provides us. Last month, one of our volunteers visited a book club and sat next to a fellow who had recently learned to read. This was the second book he had ever read in his life. When asked how he liked the book club, he said it was changing him. Reading filled him up inside and made him a nicer, more peaceful person. He liked the person he was becoming more, and he was spending time with better people than he used to before he began reading. That was changing him too. He was growing into the person he wanted to be. It is moments like these that remind us why we do what we do at BCFI. 

Grand Valley Institution Book Drive
In June, BCFI hosted a book drive for the library at GVI. We are very excited to announce that we were able to provide 1000 books, plus a collection of DVDs for the inmates.
 

New Book Clubs
We continually get requests from Correctional Services Canada to open new book clubs. We are unable to meet most of the requests but this fall we will be opening two new book clubs in Alberta, one at Bowden and one at Drumheller. 

Upcoming Events
Our Area Directors from Atlantic Canada, the Prairies, and Quebec have been busy organizing lunches and dinners for volunteers to thank them for their dedication and hard work. We also have an upcoming event for Ontario volunteers on October 13th in Kingston, ON.

BCFI will be exhibiting at Word on the Street in Toronto this year. Stop by and say hello at Harbourfront Centre on Sunday, September 23rd if you are in the area!

We are looking forward to an exciting fall season, and we could not do this without the incredible support we receive from you, our volunteers and our donors.

Thank you,

The BCFI Team