Literacy award deadline approaching

ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation will recognize a Canadian journalist with the Peter Gzowski Literacy Award of Merit(PGLAM) on September 17, 2008. Each year the non-profit organization selects a recipient from the submissions of print and broadcast journalists who have examined the complex issue of low literacy and its impact on Canadian society.

The Peter Gzowski Literacy Award of Merit was developed by ABC CANADA, in honour of Peter Gzowski. The award is given to a Canadian journalist whose work has contributed to raising awareness of the adult literacy issue.

The deadline for the competition is June 20, 2008. Entries for the 2008 award must have been published, broadcast or posted online between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. The winner will be notified Friday, July 25, 2008 and invited to an award presentation on September 17, 2008. In addition to the award, a $1,000 donation will be made, in the winning journalist’s name, to a literacy organization in their community.

For more information or to download the PGLAM entry form visit www.abc-canada.org/media/journalism_award.

Journalists who have been recognized include Alex Shprintsen, CBC-TV’s The National, Sean Fine, The Globe and Mail, Denise Donlon, MuchMusic and Paul-Émile Cormier, Journal l’Étoile. Each produced pieces that provided balanced accounts of the challenges faced by adult learners. The stories have served the literacy cause by creating attention and opportunities for discussion in homes, workplaces and in the wider community.

About Peter Gzowski
The late Peter Gzowski, journalist, broadcaster and longtime board member of ABC CANADA, was a dedicated supporter of the literacy cause. His work as a journalist included roles as the managing editor of Maclean’s, the host of CBC Radio’s This Country in the Morning and Morningside. An accomplished author, he also wrote several nonfiction books. Peter took great pride in the series of golf tournaments for literacy, which he founded. In 1986, Peter vowed to raise $1 million in his lifetime to benefit community-based literacy organizations. To date the PGI Golf Tournaments for Literacy – Founded by Peter Gzowski have raised more than $10 million net, making this initiative the most successful fundraiser for literacy in Canada.

About ABC CANADA
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is Canada’s private-sector voice championing adult literacy. The national charity envisions a Canada where individuals, regardless of their circumstances, are provided the opportunities to increase the skills that prepare people for realizing their full potential at work, at home and in the community. To learn more about literacy, visit www.abc-canada.org.

For more information, please contact:
Eusis Dougan-McKenzie / Ashley Tilley
Manager, Communications / Communications Co-ordinator
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
416-218-0010 ext. 122 / 127
edougan-mckenzie@abc-canada.org / atilley@abc-canada.org