David Jones kicks off fundraising campaign to tackle Indigenous literacy gap
As part of its ‘Good Business Journey’, David Jones and ambassador Adam Goodes have launched a fundraising campaign for The Australia Literacy and Numeracy Foundation to raise awareness of the Indigenous Literacy Gap.
The campaign features a moving image of three Indigenous children from one of the ALNF’s programs in South Australia, and is centred around a hub on the David Jones website which includes information and video content about ALNF.
The initiative will also include a PR campaign led by Goodes and paid digital advertising across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
David Jones has also collaborated with the Byron Bay Cookie Company to produce a charity cookie, available at every David Jones point-of-sale and on its website.
As part of the campaign, David Jones will donate 10% of every book purchase in store to the ALNF from May 22 to 29, with the proceeds used to service a pre-school and day care centre serving the Indigenous community in Forster.
Commenting on the campaign, David Jones ambassador Adam Goodes said: “Being able to read and write is a basic human right, and yet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are three times less likely to meet the national minimum literacy and numeracy standards.
“I’m proud to work with an iconic brand like David Jones that is putting its hand up to highlight the problem and, more importantly, be part of the solution,” he said.
David Jones’ chief operating officer, David Thomas, said it was important for the brand to have “meaningful social impact”.
“We’re proud to support the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation who are among the change-makers in our community. ALNF’s powerful literacy programs empower whole communities, providing qualifications for the adults who can then provide literacy and numeracy support for generations of children, creating sustainable positive change.
“Every dollar we raise through this campaign will make a genuine difference and help to close the Indigenous literacy gap,” Thomas said.
Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation co-founder and executive director, Kim Kelly said: “We are very proud to be partnering with David Jones. Having the support of such a respected, iconic organisation is vital to creating the awareness we need to close the shameful Indigenous literacy gap. David Jones are proving the great impact that corporates can have on tackling some of our most difficult social issues.”
