Canadian students send school supplies to students in Ethiopia and Mali on Valentine's Day

Local students send gifts of school supplies to students in Africa through CODE's Project Love, a national program supporting literacy and global education

Project Love launch at Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, Ontario

Attention Editors (Ottawa) - On Wednesday, February 14, 2007, CODE, will kick-off Project Love/Projet Amour 2007 at Glebe Collegiate Institute, 212 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa.

ALL MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA ARE MOST CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND.

Glebe Collegiate Institute is one of a number of Ottawa area schools participating in this annual event. They, together with tens of thousands of youth in schools across Canada, will be busy ensuring that thousands of students in Ethiopia and Mali will have better access to education and literacy. They will assemble Project Love kits of educational materials with personal notes of greeting, all to be shipped and distributed overseas through CODE.

Since 1987 when Project Love was initiated, CODE has helped Canadian youth send over a million and a half Project Love kits to students in Africa and the Caribbean.

"Because Project Love is a hands-on activity, it helps Canadian youth learn that their peers in other countries don't have the same opportunities they do," said Garth Brooks, Program Manager, Canadian Education at CODE. "By sending school supplies to students in developing countries, our Canadian students also learn they have the power to make a positive contribution to another person's life - and to the world." Glebe Collegiate Institute has participated in Project Love for several years and is very excited to participate in the Project Love 2007 national launch. Principal Pat Kulka states "Project Love is an excellent opportunity for Glebe Collegiate Institute with its diverse student body and its many international clubs to demonstrate its goal of supporting global education."

CODE's Project Love is a national program that provides an opportunity for Canadian children to learn about the educational challenges faced by their peers around the world. The preparation of Project Love kits and the accompanying lessons in global education give them a glimpse into the lives of students their own age - in countries where simple learning tools such as paper and pencils can be difficult to obtain. Project Love also shows through this hands-on activity that they care by doing something about it.

This year, Project Love participants will be writing messages to students in Ethiopia and Mali. They will enclose their messages in Project Love kits containing an exercise book, a pencil, an eraser and a ruler.

Project Love is the main component of CODE's Canadian Education program and was initiated in 1987 by a committee of CODE volunteers in London, Ontario. Thanks to the ongoing support of students, teachers, parents and organizations across Canada, it is now a nationally recognized program. Project Love is a proud recipient of a Flight for Freedom Literacy Award (Canada Post), and the Jennie Mitchell Celebrate Literacy Award (International and Ontario Reading Associations).

CODE is a Canadian charitable organization that promotes literacy and education in the developing world. For almost fifty years, CODE has been helping adults and children learn to read and write through strategic projects with overseas partners. Supported through individual and corporate donations, CODE is particularly grateful for the generous support of the Canadian International Development Agency.

Learn more at www.codecan.org/projectlove
Information:
Garth Brooks, Program Manager,
Project Love/Canadian Education
Tel: 613 232-3569 ext. 233
gbrooks@codecan.org

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