In the Community

Innisfil’s Little Santas Making Waves Around the World

A library initiative in Innisfil, Ontario has been making ripples that will be felt by families across the globe. As part of their summer ‘Splash’ reading club, children had the option to give up a prize for every five books they read and instead contribute a pebble towards the library’s ‘duck bucket.’  Every pebble was worth a dime and at the end of the summer, Friends of the Library counted up all the pebbles and swapped them with funds to buy ducks or chicks for families who needed them through CHF’s Gifts That Matter campaign.

“It was important for us to provide a meaningful way to encourage children in our community to read. The Duck Bucket initiative provided the children with a good incentive to pick up a book,” Emily Brady, Children's Librarian at the Innisfil Public Library. “They really connected with the idea that by reading through the summer they could help children and families who were hungry to feed and support themselves.”

Having the choice to pass up a prize gave parents the opportunity to talk to their kids about how they could help and why it was important. Children then felt more connected to the people they were helping and began to get more and more excited about it—reading more books as a result.

The initiative was a big success, and Innisfil’s aspiring Santas rose to the occasion, purchasing 60 chicks that will go to families in Mozambique. With a matching program from the Canadian International Development Agency, this means 240 chicks will be distributed!

“The gift of animals was a meaningful and understandable contribution that even our youngest participants could grasp and want to help with,” added Ms. Brady. “This was many children’s first opportunity to personally choose to give something to someone else rather than receive a gift for themselves. It was inspiring to watch children choose to help another child and family, again and again, rather than receive the instant gratification of a new toy.”

For more information on Gifts That Matter, please visit giftsthatmatter.ca or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .