THE East London community can gear up for an exciting inaugural Wild Coast FM Book Drive which aims that will help to make reading fun.
One of the people behind the drive, Caviner Ruiters, said that he saw a need for this initiative after he had entering the Justice Pageants last year.
“I noticed that underprivileged schools’ pupils had problems with reading,” Ruiters said.
Joining forces with retired teacher Andrew McIntyre, a retired teacher, they undertook research on underprivileged primary schools within in East London.
“We’ve identified three schools as that will be beneficiaries of the initiative this year,” he added.
The two then approached Wild Coast FM (WCFM) to be part of this project. Station manager, Wayne Naylor said education is a fundamental cornerstone and this is a worthwhile project to be involved in.
“The station getting involved and making reading accessible to youngsters is fulfilling part of our promise to serve the community and – to make a difference at grassroots level,” said Naylor.
He added that books don’t need to be charged like our smartphones and tablets, “a book is handy and readily accessible”.
The station is also contributing its resources to the initiative, officially called the Wild Coast FM Book Drive 2018.
Department of sport, recreation, arts and culture (DSRAC) spokesman Andile Nduna said that the department has also joined forces with WCFM for the book drive, donated 173 books.
“Such an initiative is in line with DSRAC’s mandate of enhancing and advancing lifelong learning through reading. It will serve as a seed to the schools and the broader community around the Wild Coast,” Nduna said.
Primary schools benefiting, from this worthy cause include Parkside, Cranberry and Aqua Vista.
Ruiters said that the public can donate books at drop-off points at PNA in Nahoon and WCFM at Crossways, as well as getting involved with the reading programme. Collection will start from July 30 until the end of August.
“National Book Week is in September where we will have reading programmes at the three schools. It also serves part of the Mandela Day outreach,” Ruiters said.
The initiative also has a Facebook page – Wild Coast FM Book Drive 2018. Contact Ruiters on 073-078-6966.
