Dozens of children will receive the gift of speech thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals.
Reach Child and Youth Development Society kicked off its annual Gift of Speech holiday campaign Nov. 30, 2021, with the aim of removing 50 children from its speech therapy waitlist.
Among its many other services, Reach provides one-on-one speech therapy session to children with complex development needs using augmentative tools like iPads that help children communicate for the first time.
A gift of $50 would allow one child to receive a speech therapy session, and 10 sessions are enough to make a meaningful difference to a family.
By the time the campaign had concluded on Jan.15, 2022, the society had raised $32,030, enough to provide 640 speech therapy sessions.
“Early intervention speech therapy helps children reach their potential in life,” Reach therapies manager Katie Scozzafava said in a press release. “There is a window of opportunity where help makes the biggest difference and the funds received remove children from the wait list to get that help.”
Major donors to this year’s Gift of Speech campaign included Warner Bros. and the cast of Ladner-shot Superman & Lois, who supported the campaign with a video message from actor Erik Valdez, who plays Kyle Cushing on the show, and a donation of 120 hours of speech therapy.
In another show of community support, Envision Financial, a division of First West Credit Union, pledged to match $5,000 in donations once $10,000 was raised.
As well, Annacis Island business Fraserway RV gifted Reach with $5,000 towards the campaign on Dec. 16.
Reach Child and Youth Development Society is a non-profit charitable society that has been providing services to children and their families since 1959. Reach currently provides programs and services to over 1,000 children and their families in Delta, Surrey and Langley every year.
For more information, visit reachdevelopment.org.
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editor@northdeltareporter.com
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