First Book Canada held their first ever book distribution in the city of Calgary this last week, under the direction of one determined woman named Carol Anne Ruscica and her fearless compatriot Wayne Cochrane. Between me, a First Book newcomer, and distribution veteran Andy Wright, we were on a mission to make the first First Book/Le Premier Livre distribution a successful one!

More than 17, 000 books were distributed to 23 different organizations, courtesy of Scholastic Canada.  On top of that, once organizations came to pick up their books, the word spread about how First Book Canada was providing brand new books to organizations across Calgary and new recipient groups piled in almost as quickly as the snow.

Lucky for us, volunteers piled in as well. We were blessed with nearly 20 volunteers throughout the course of the week which included Pi Beta Phi alumnae, Calgary Youth Corps and TD Canada Trust employees.  Neighbour Link was generous enough to house the books in their warehouse and their office and warehouse crew were more than accommodating during our chilly 3 day stay.

The First Book/Le Premier Livre staff are now settling back in their Toronto office but their feet have barely hit the floor! Due to the overwhelming success in Calgary they are making new connections all over Canada and are excited to begin planning the next distribution.