Contributions surpassing all estimates poured into a children’s literacy fund re-named in tribute to the memory of former School District #83 trustee Lisa Rolland.
Rolland, who was re-elected in November to her third term as trustee for Carlin-Sorrento, died in December of an aggressive form of cancer.
As a way to honour Rolland, a children’s literacy fund with the Shuswap Community Foundation was re-named and a goal of $10,000 was set.
It was thought this might take two to five years to reach. That marker, however, was reached last week, just four months after Rolland’s death. On Tuesday, there was a $240 cheque in the mail to the Shuswap Community Foundation, which put the fund just over the goal.
“It says a lot about what she did for children and her community that the fund just took off like that,” said friend and fellow school board trustee Bobbi Johnson.
Johnson explains that Rolland knew about re-naming the fund in her honour before she died. Rolland was passionate about helping children with literacy skills, especially those children with reading challenges.
“At first, we were going to fundraise for the fund, she was going to shave her head... At that point we thought she was going to get better. Soon it became clear that was not going to be the case and we discussed re-naming the fund and she was very excited about that. It was one of her dying legacies.”
The fund will remain in perpetuity, generating revenue which will be applied exclusively to children’s literacy programs in the Shuswap.
“There are going to be a lot of kids in our school district that are going to get a lot out of this fund. I know Lisa would be delighted about that,” said Johnson.