Give the Gift of Literacy!

As a charity, we depend on the generosity of like-minded individuals and organizations to help us bring our valuable programming to students. Please consider making a monetary donation so that we may continue our work for Alberta’s children. Whether it’s through a one-time gift or an authorized monthly donation, you can make a difference to thousands of children all across Alberta. If you aren’t sure which method of donation is the best fit for you, please contact the office at 780-422-8232 or info@yabs.ab.ca and we’ll be happy to help you.

Please note that YABS does not accept used book donations from the general public. Please contact us to discuss donations of brand new titles by our member authors and illustrators that are needed to support our current programs.

There are a variety of ways to support YABS. Donations by cheque, cash, or e-transfer are preferred when possible because we aren’t charged for any transaction fees, making your donation go further!

  • Send us an email money transfer to ed@yabs.ab.ca (please call 780-422-8232 with the security password)
  • Send a cheque made out to the Young Alberta Book Society to 11759 Groat Road, Edmonton, AB, T5M 3K6
  • Stop by the office with cash or a cheque. We can write you a receipt on the spot. Please call first to make sure we’re going to be in!
  • Donate online through ATB Cares. (There is a 2.9% transaction fee.)
  • Donate online through CanadaHelps.org (There is a 4% transaction fee on one-time gifts and a 3.5% transaction fee for monthly gifts.)
  • Include YABS in your estate plan with a future gift through a bequest, life insurance, or trust arrangement

  • Spread the word by telling your friends, family, and colleagues!

How will my donation make a difference?

Your monetary donation will support children’s literacy programs in Alberta. YABS inspires children to read and write by sending children’s book authors and illustrators into classrooms and libraries to spark their imaginations and get them excited about literacy. Why is literacy so important? Strong literacy skills provide a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Low literacy levels are linked to poverty, crime, poor health, unemployment and low quality of life. Alberta’s children deserve a bright future. With your donation, YABS will continue to help Alberta’s children and youth on the path to learning and success.

Your donation also supports Alberta’s children’s literary arts.

YABS supports and promotes Albertan authors, illustrators and storytellers through our online artist directory, educational workshops/seminars, literary arts festival, literacy programs and booking/referral program. Also, our ever-growing Alberta Collection which serves both as an archive of Albertan artists and as a lending library available to educators, student teachers, and student librarians

Helping hands

Yes. YABS is a registered charity so you will receive a tax receipt for donations over $10.

Ask your employer about gift matching. Many companies have a program in place to support their employees’ charities of choice.

Looking for a gift for a friend on that special occasion? Make a donation to YABS in their honour!

Let your friends and family know that you support YABS and tell them why. You may inspire them to give the gift of literacy too!

Show your ongoing support to YABS every month with a pre-authorized monthly donation. Payments will automatically come off of your credit card for as long as you choose. Simply check the monthly giving option on the Canada Helps YABS donation page.

Donate a Car Canada accepts Vehicle Donations for the Young Alberta Book Society. Free towing is provided in most areas across Canada, or you can drop off your vehicle to maximize your donation. When you donate your car, truck, RV, boat, or motorcycle to the Young Alberta Book Society through Donate A Car Canada, it will either be recycled or sold at auction (depending on its condition, age and location). Donate a Car Canada will look after all the details to make it easy for the Young Alberta Book Society to benefit. After your vehicle donation is complete, you will receive a tax receipt and we will put your gift to good use. Please click here to donate a vehicle.

What would you wish for YABS if money were no object?

Greater subsidy for schools? No more casino? Expand Story Avenue? Through the Marg Stephen Legacy Fund, we could one day achieve our biggest dreams.

In 2010, the Young Alberta Book Society created the Marg Stephen Legacy Fund. This endowment fund through the Edmonton Community Foundation helps to provide stable, long-term funding to YABS operations. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $10 or more.

Marg Stephen (1931-2018) was the founder of the Young Alberta Book Society. She began organizing author tours in schools in the early 1980s for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. The tour was a much bigger success than the program was intended to handle, so Marg recruited local authors and found local funding to support more visits in Alberta schools. Marg started an Edmonton-based organization called the Young Alberta Book Festival Society (we dropped the ‘Festival’ a few years later) and expanded the author tour even more through the Chrysalis Literary Festival, which is now known as Taleblazers. By the time Marg retired from YABS in 1999, the festival had grown from 50 sessions by 10 artists in the Edmonton area to more than 450 sessions by 40 artists in 160 communities in Alberta!

An endowment fund is a source of income in which the capital is never spent, but instead carefully invested. A portion of the annual interest comes to us each year, which provides a permanent, stable, ongoing source of income. Unlike grants and sponsorships, this money comes with no string attached; we can use the money from the endownment fund for whatever we need most at the time. We partnered with the Edmonton Community Foundation to take advantage of their wealth of experience and expertise, leaving us to focus on what we do best: fostering literacy and a love of reading among young people in Alberta by providing access to the province’s literary artists and their work.

When it comes to endowment funds, size matters! We receive a percentage of the interest earned each year, so more capital means more income. The more we can grow this fund, the more resources we will have to support our programming, the more financial stability we will have, and the more dreams we can fulfill.

Have a Question?

Give us a call or send us an email and we’ll be happy to help!