Toronto, ON - At a special awards ceremony, held in Toronto last night, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation presented its eighth annual Joyce Fairbairn, P.C. Literacy Public Awareness Award to Coca-Cola Ltd., for the company’s support of the literacy cause through its share the stories program.

“It is my great honour to accept this award on behalf of all of us at Coca-Cola,” said Vincent Timpano, president and CEO, Coca-Cola Ltd. “Our work with ABC CANADA on the share the stories program over the last three years has been an enriching experience for all those who have participated in helping connect children with their parents and caregivers through the joy of reading. Coca-Cola has a history of giving back to communities in ways that are meaningful to them, and we have been extremely pleased with the way in which we’ve been able to help local Canadian communities through this wonderful literacy program.”

In 2001, Coca-Cola launched the share the stories program in communities across the country, and committed to donating $1 million in funding for family reading initiatives. In the program’s inaugural year, Coca-Cola provided funding to create 200 share the stories reading circles in libraries.

In 2002 and 2003, share the stories was expanded to offer funding to schools, libraries and literacy groups for the development/maintenance of a reading circle, or to create/supplement a children’s book collection. For the past two years, ABC CANADA has been responsible for managing this program on Coke’s behalf.

A total of 995 organizations across Canada applied for share the stories funds. Of this total, 172 programs from every province and territory - from Nunavut to Newfoundland/Labrador - received funding. In addition, over 200,000 bookmarks and tipsheets featuring information for parents on the importance of reading with children have been distributed through this program. Most importantly, the share the stories funding has touched the lives of well over half a million children, and resulted in the purchase of an estimated 22,000 new children’s books.

In her congratulatory remarks, the award’s namesake, Senator Joyce Fairbairn, commended Coca-Cola for taking up the literacy challenge: “This example of strong corporate citizenship is not only touching hundreds of local communities across our country, but it is also providing leadership that, hopefully, other outstanding Canadian companies will emulate.”

The Senator Joyce Fairbairn, P.C. Literacy Public Awareness Award, also known as the “Joycee,” was established in 1996 by ABC CANADA to honour outstanding private sector support for literacy. Past winners include Maclean Hunter Publishing Ltd., Canadian Yellow Pages Publishers, Southam Inc., Baton Broadcasting System, Royal Bank, Honda Canada, Taxi Advertising, and the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) and the Canadian Cable Television Association who received the award jointly in 2002. Last year, Air Canada received the award for its support of the PGI Golf Tournaments for Literacy and an in-flight audio-book program called SKYword.

Created during International Literacy Year in 1990, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is a national charity committed to promoting literacy to the general public and to the private sector. For more information, please visit www.abc-canada.org.

Coca-Cola Ltd. (CCL) is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage company and the leading producer and marketer of soft drinks, juices and juice drinks. CCL is responsible for developing new brands, as well as enhancing existing brands specifically for Canadian consumers. This includes advertising, promotions, marketing and packaging innovations, in addition to juice and juice drink manufacturing. Current Coca-Cola beverages include: Coca-Cola Classic, Diet Coke, Sprite, Nestea ice teas, POWERADE sports drinks, DASANI bottled water, Minute Maid juices, Five Alive, Bibo and Fruitopia.

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In photo from left to right
Alan Middleton, ABC CANADA; Senator/La Sénatrice Joyce Fairbairn; Kelly McCarten, Coca-Cola Ltd./Coca-Cola Ltée