Blue Bombers to be well represented in national 'Raise-a-Reader Day'

WINNIPEG, MB - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be well represented in the national Raise-a-Reader Day in support of family literacy.

Veteran Barrin Simpson will join fellow linebacker Joe Lobendahn on Wednesday, September 24 to aid in the annual event. In all, hundreds of volunteers - including local celebrities, sponsors, and literacy beneficiaries - will blanket Winnipeg streets, high pedestrian traffic areas, bus and coffee stops, and the drive-thru lineups of select McDonald's restaurants. They'll be trading special-edition copies of the Winnipeg Free Press and National Post for donations to Canwest Raise-a-Reader.

Canwest Raise-a-Reader (RAR) is an award-winning national program designed to increase awareness and collect funds/resources to support family literacy programs. All of the money raised through Raise-a-Reader is donated to local literacy and educational organizations and stays in the community where it is collected.

The trio of Blue Bomber players will join Buzz and Boomer, as well as the likes of Leonard and Gail Asper; Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, former Winnipeg Jets great Thomas Steen and Bob Cox, publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press, as celebrity volunteers.