Last year we embarked on an initiative to give back where it was most needed. We asked you to purchase The Smallest Gift of Christmas by Peter H. Reynolds and donated 100% of our profit to support a local family of Syrian refugees. Close to $800 was raised!
Inspired by your enthusiastic response we talked to our other bookseller friends and they loved the idea. Soon independent bookstores across Canada were selling The Smallest Gift of Christmas and donating all their profits to local families or organizations.
We're at it again. This year we would like to invite you to purchase Wenjack by acclaimed writer Joseph Boyden with illustrations from Ken Monkman. Boyden has crafted a powerful and poignant novella based on the true story of Chanie Wenjack, an Ojibwe boy who runs away from a North Ontario Indian School, not realizing just how far from home he is. Along the way he's followed by Manitous, spirits of the forest who comment on his plight, cajoling, taunting, and ultimately offering him a type of comfort on his difficult journey back to the place from where he was so brutally removed.
100% of our profits will be donated to The Healing of the Seven Generations, an organization that works with Aboriginal people in Waterloo Region. They assist those who are suffering from the lasting effects of the legacy of Residential Schools. In an environment that is personal, welcoming, and culturally appropriate, survivors are taught healing through traditional approaches and practices such as prayer, ceremony, songs, dance, drumming, dreams, fasting, and medicines.
We would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to you, our customers and steadfast champions of the printed word. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your support and we are grateful for this opportunity to give a little something back.
