Get Some Warm Fuzzies: Volunteer

Because I announced yesterday's book giveaway on a number of message groups, and the digest post option often takes a day to show up, I'm not going to announce a winner until tomorrow (when it'll be another chapter from the annals of Detective Hussey).

You can leave a comment either here or scroll down to yesterday's post.

The "For Sale" sign is in the yard, so I guess it's official, although I haven't seen the posting on the MLS site.

I know I've spent a lot of blog time on my pet charity, Adult Literacy, and it's still a worthwhile topic. Saturday I'll be training another batch of tutors. Yes, it's a holiday weekend, but the need is there. The Adult Literacy League here in Orlando has a backlog of people waiting to be assigned tutors. The economy is hitting them hard. On a slightly brighter note, we've seen a rise in the number of tutors--many of them have also felt the downsizing crunch and now have more time, and are choosing to use it to help others.

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My first student was a 50-year-old woman who had completed 9th grade, but had been passed through the system because she was a quiet and cooperative student. Her learning difficulties had pretty much been ignored. I spent 3 delightful years working with her, and we both took great satisfaction in watching her progress.

My next student reflected another literacy issue … people whose native language isn’t English. I enjoyed the ups and downs of explaining the vagaries and complexities of our language to a woman born and raised in Korea. Although she was in the U.S. for almost 20 years, she had only recently made the connection between the fact that without good language skills, her ability to obtain promotions at work had just about ended. I probably learned as much about grammar as she did (at least I learned official terminology for all the rules I took for granted). Her pronunciation was another challenge--being Korean, she had problems with Ls and Rs. "Squirrel" was almost beyond her capability. And since she worked for Walt Disney World, we spent a lot of time practicing that one.

Or idioms -- one story spoke of a character being "in a rut." Because she pronounced the word "rot", not "rut", her interpretation was that the man had a "rotten life."

The rewards of having someone tell you that they read a magazine article that warned of the dangers of eating rare hamburger, or that they finally got the Monday – Friday work schedule they’ve always wanted cannot be measured. I urge everyone who has an hour a week to find a literacy group in your community and give something back. You can check ProLiteracy Worldwide to find a program in your area. Get in touch with someone today.

And if you don't think you have what it takes to work with a student, your local literacy organization needs volunteers for so many other tasks. Can you help with mailings? Will you answer phones? Can you manage a photocopy machine? And, if you feel you still don't have the time or skills, these organizations will never say 'no' to your checks!

What are you giving back?

I'll be at the Orlando Adult Literacy League all day today, training new tutors to teach adults how to read, or improve their reading skills.

Literacy, or the lack of it, is a major problem in our country. While Nora Roberts can afford to donate much larger sums of money than I can, at least by giving a day of my time once a month, I can do my part.

Check out ProLiteracy Worldwide to find a program in your area. And if you don't have time, yes they all take checks.

What are you doing to give back to your community?

Literacy and Nora Roberts

What I'm reading: Shoot Don't Shoot by J.A. Jance

What I'm writing: Finished my draft of my mystery short; tentative title: Redshirted.

This morning, in my never ending quest to keep the pile of paperwork on my desk down to a manageable level, I picked up a renewal form from ProLiteracy. I've been an advocate of literacy for years--my whole live, actually. Where would we be if we couldn't read? I can't remember not reading, and I swear my kids popped out of the womb as bookworms.

I've taught school, I've volunteer tutored for our local Adult Literacy League, and I'm now involved with their program to train new tutors. The Laubach Way to Reading, which is one program used to teach adults reading says, "Each One Teach One" and it's something we should all strive for. There's nothing more rewarding than to see a learner's eyes light up as they discover how to make sense of those markings on a printed page.

The Romance Writers of America supports ProLiteracy Worldwide, donating the proceeds from their annual multi-author book signing at their national conference. So does the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, among many other groups.

Back to the renewal form. Normally, I just tick a box, fill it out (or go on line), but a name popped out at me. Nora Roberts. I read the paragraph. "I agree that literacy is a basic human right that should not be denied to anyone in today's world. I also understand that my renewal contribution will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by a generous gift from author Nora Roberts. "

I will admit I doubled my normal contribution. I can't afford to match gifts the way Nora Roberts can, but I can certainly budget a little more to help the cause.

Even if you've never donated before, I urge you to visit the ProLiteracy Worldwide website
and make a contribution. Better yet, find a program in your community and sign up to teach someone to read. All you need is an hour or two a week.


(I haven't forgotten my cover contest -- check back Friday for the whole cover and a winner)