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Community Involvement

One of our core values at The Book Man is community involvement. We are a locally owned and operated business. We help create positive change in our community through the giving of time, funds, and energy. We do everything from support doorprizes at local film festivals to sponsoring spelling bee prizes in local Elementary schools. We are a firm believer that it is our responsibility, duty and privilege to support our community members by any means possible. While we have multiple manilla envelopes filled with thank you cards from hundreds of causes over the years, we have chosen to tell you about a few that are near and dear to our heart.

Chilliwack Learning Community Society

We donate our time, and make financial contributions to the amazing work of the CLCS. We also work with CLCS and The Rotary Club to place free bookshelves within businesses around town to provide easy access to books to both staff members and clients. Our manager Amber Short is working with CLCS to clearly define the financial needs to CLCS within our community in the hopes that she will be able to help fundraise with businesses and individuals/families to support their invaluable literacy work within our community. She is also spearheading a union between Shaw TV and CLCS to assist in the creation of multiple television spots informing our community about available programming with an emphasis on literacy.

Early Years Literacy Society

We are one of the main providers of children's books for the book bins that these fine folks put around town. Families and children can enjoy a book on a city bus, in a laundromat, or a waiting room courtesy of our store. Amber, our Manager, attends Social Marketing committee meetings, and assists with press, in-store donations, and advertising to raise awareness, and funds for literacy in our community.

Business Improvement Association

Amber, our Manager, recently served on the Board of Directors of Chilliwack's Downtown Business Improvement Association for a two year term. She also sat on the Marketing Committee which is in charge of web development, newspaper ads, radio advertising and signage in the downtown core.

Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce

Amber volunteers with the Chilliwack Chamber to put on events like Chilliwack's Women of Excellence Conference whenever the opportunity arises, and is a participating member of the Chamber. We provide doorprizes for their various events as well!

Rosedale Elementary

Their Reading Mastery program is creating astounding results! We support them with financial contributions, as well as through book donations for their students. We invite all other schools in our district to consider Reading Mastery, and will help to offer support with acquisitions of materials for Correcting Reading.

Ann Davis Transition Society

We have an ongoing donation jar for Ann Davis; when customers do not take a bag, they receive a token worth the 3cents a bag costs us that can be given to one of three charities, and many choose to donate that token to Ann Davis. We also have a large cash credit account for Ann Davis that customers donate their credit to so that staff and families can purchase free books.

Safe Haven Society

Our bookstore cat Nietzsche was adopted from Safe Haven in 2008. We have an ongoing donation jar on our counter for Safe Haven; when customers do not take a bag, they receive a token worth the 3cents a bag costs us that can be given to one of three charities, and many choose to donate that token to Safe Haven. We also do fundraisers with our celebrity bookstore cat; limited edition bookmarks complete with Nietzsche's original "pawtograph" with all proceeds going to Safe Haven.

Rotary Club of Chilliwack Fraser Valley

We work in conjunction with Rotary & CLCS to provide bookshelves within local businesses. Rotary members create the shelves, and we fill them with free books, restocking as needed. These shelves can be used by either customers, or staff members to promote literacy in waiting rooms, lunch rooms and more. Every week we deliver a truckload of books to help them accumulate stock for their annual book sale. We also designed a map to give to our customers to encourage them to do the same. Their hard work and community efforts are inspiring.

Chilliwack General Hospital

It gives us a good feeling to take over boxes of children's books for their waiting rooms and children's ward. The Book Man worked as a nurse before he owned the bookstore, and has fond memories of those times.

Chilliwack School District

For five years running, we have provided presentations on literacy to numerous high school classes. Their field trip to The Book Man teaches them about various aspects of literacy and reading. Journalling, biographies, nonfiction, fiction, graphic novels (comics in book form), songwriting and other forms of literature are discussed. We explore the idea of gender bias in the book world, challenge the idea of elitism, and drive home the idea that starving students can save oodles of money on various texts by buying them used instead of new. We challenge "pulp fiction" reading habits by introducing hip authors, both contemporary and classic, who write with substance.

The Book Man himself decided to make a donation of "global proportions" to elementary schools within the district when he started collecting world globes for the Chilliwack School District. He had a lot of fun finding and giving these world globes, and believes that they are an important addition for classrooms.

We also provide boxes of children's books as incentives for in-school reading programs, and provide a 15% discount for teachers & librarians.

We have also participated in their Work Experience program numerous times, offering high school students an opportunity to work in a retail environment before graduating. We teach them valuable skills to take with them into their adult years, and stress the importance of setting personal goals, developing their work ethic, and asking questions.

We recently sponsored an entire school in their "Spelling Bee Fundraiser." By offering a free children's book to the top speller in each class, we placed focus on the importance of recognizing our young, hardworking students. We are always open to new ideas such as this.

Our "1000 Kids' Book Giveaway" is a roaring success. Once a year, we invite entries to write an essay, story or poem of 150 words or less explaining how books are important to them and their school. Entries are judged by 14 different staff members, until we have our top three. This year we ended up making a second and a third prize, as it was impossible to choose just one! We gave away 1,750 kids' books to three schools, and it brought tears to our eyes to see the joy that this created for those special young applicants and their schools.

Highschool Scholarships

We offer a "Literature Lover's" scholarship at Chilliwack Senior Secondary School as well as Sardis Secondary and G. W. Graham. Applicants draft essays, poems, or other forms of creative writing explaning how books have affected them in their lives, or changed them as people. There have been years where these essays have reduced us to tears with their sincerity and heartfelt sentiments. Students receive a sizable book credit at our store to help them with book costs while they are at school. Whether it is spent on books for their English courses, or for personal reading, we feel its important to honour those students who love books as much as we do. We have included a number of these essays for our customers to enjoy on our website. Check them out here.

The Salvation Army

Their kind, good work in our community goes a long way to filling hungry bellies and providing shelter to those that have none. Our yearly financial contribution to them is a meaningful one to us.

Big Brothers

We have happily supported individuals fundraising in their Bowl-A-Thon for years, and truly believe in what they provide young men in our community.

Fraser Vally Child Development Centre (FVCDC)

We happilly provide books for their Christmas party, to put books into the hands of children with developmental needs. 2010 saw 200 books leave our store and head towards promoting family literacy.

The Chilliwack Lions Club

Supporting their poinsettia drive every year makes our store beautiful, and helps support their important causes.

Chilliwack Community Services

We have supported them in their various fundraising efforts with coveted in-store gift certificates for their doorprizes, and have provided rare books for fundraising auctions.

Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra

Donations of in-store gift certificates to aid them in their fundraising efforts is a source of pride; participating in cultural events in our community is extremely important to us.

Chilliwack Arts Council

Our small town version of an International Film Festival happens two times a year. Six movies are hosted at our local movie theatre, and it's almost a sold out event every year. We support this event not only by attending, but by providing doorprizes to sweeten the deal for those who attend.

Bootstrap Theatre

An offshoot of the Players' Guild, Bootstrap brings young, hip theatre to Downtown Chilliwack. The Book Man promotes and provides funding for printing and budgetary needs. Our staff members can often be seen playing roles in their shows as well; Sheri Eyre captured audiences as Medea in the recent production of No More Medea.

Chilliwack Player's Guild

It brings us pride to support the Chilliwack Player's Guild last production at the old Arts Centre by participating in Riddle Quest, their treasure hunt, and providing a draw prize. We always do what we can!

.... and many more. Need our support for an event you're throwing, or your service organization? We are members of this community, and consider all causes!

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Community Involvement