Volunteering can be a big boost to literacy

Residents looking for ways to help or benefit their neighbors, their fellow man, have another option to consider.  They can volunteer to teach someone to read.

They can start by attending a special program that will be at noon Aug. 31 at the Adult Education Center, 2301 Stonewall St. The center is hosting a community involvement and volunteer sign-up lunch.

Volunteers, those already involved in the program don’t mind telling you, are sorely needed. There are not enough to answer the needs in this community today, not nearly enough.

So many of us take reading for granted that it is almost impossible to comprehend that there are actually men and women, and teens too, in this community who do not possess the skill.

Why should you care? For a lot of reasons, with the first being a pure desire to help another human being. It is hard to get along in this world today without reading skills, and even more so in this computer age. The options for an individual seeking to improve himself or herself, or seeking to improve the quality of life for their family, is severely limited when words look like – and might as well be – ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Think of this, too: many of these individuals may be crossing the paths of some of us in our golden years. Giving them the tools to gain knowledge by simply teaching them to read would be beneficial to them and to us.

If you have a busy routine, that’s OK.  Volunteers are not firmly welded to a schedule.

They can set their own. And, those in the program will tell you, it can be 90 minutes a day, every other day or every week. Materials also will not be an issue.  Those doing the teaching will be provided everything they need to accomplish their task.

Please help. There are a lot of people counting on you, your gift of time and patience.

Please note:  The special program scheduled at 12:00 noon on August 31st has been changed to September 21 at 12:00 noon at the same location.