A learner from B.C. will walk from St. John's to Parksville to celebrate and raise funds for literacy next year.

Carol Bossio will begin to walk across Canada from Newfoundland on April 1, 1998. She plans to arrive in her home town on Vancouver Island by the end of 1998.

The goal of the walk is to raise funds for literacy in Canada in two ways:

through a National Adult Literacy Learner Bursary Fund to be administered by the Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL).

by encouraging literacy groups along the walk route to hold walks with Carol to raise funds for their local organizations.

Start-up funds for the project are being provided by the the National Literacy Secretariat. The project is administered by Literacy B.C., under the direction of Mary Thompson Boyd, Coordinator.

Carol, who learned to read as a student at The Write Place in Parksville, organized the first Walk for Literacy in that community in 1994. The idea for a national Walk sprang from Carol's dream of spreading the "Walk" message across the country.

The walk is the first national literacy event of its kind ever undertaken in Canada.

A Walk web site will be available on the Internet through the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) early in the new year. The site will provide updates on Carol's progress over the course of the project. It will also provide information on how communities can get involved, and the opportunities available for volunteer support or making "in-kind" donations to the Walk.

You can access the NALD website at:

Currently, Carol is in training for the event. She is working with a fitness instructor, skating, walking, lifting weights and doing other exercises.

For more information on the Walk, and how you can participate, contact: