|
|
|
|
Message From the Director
We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. Please take a moment to view all of the businesses which have supported AACLC at recent events and consider thanking them with your customer loyalty. They have reached out to support our free, individualized literacy and ESL tutoring program for adults and out-of-school youth, and by doing so have helped to make Anne Arundel County a great place to live for everyone. Please show your gratitude by supporting them in return.
Details of May's Great Give and our Volunteer Recognition Dinner follow, along with an inspiring story about Howard in our Why We Do What We Do section. Please also check out the useful tutor/student resources list below.
We have a great year ahead of us!
Warmest regards,
Lisa Vernon
programdirector@aaclc.org
410-798-0408
"Obstacles are those frightful things you can see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford
|
Why We Do What We Do
Howard McGoldrick is one of the bravest men I've ever met. As a youngster, he never learned to read. In the 1940s, students who couldn't read were passed along until they left school at age 16. Howard suffered terrible humiliation at school. He was told that he was stupid and was forced to sit in the back of the room, neglected by both his teachers and his peers. He has tried to cover up his illiteracy his entire life. When he was drafted (as many young men were), Howard was turned away from the service due to his illiteracy. It was difficult for him to shake a sense of shame and it took profound courage in recent years to confront his inability to read and do something about it.
I quickly learned that Howard is very intelligent. Howard has supported his family for years by working for a company that does construction work. He is an accomplished carpenter and is also very proficient with arithmetic. He is proud that he has earned his living and that he has a nice home in Brooklyn Park.
Howard always promised himself that he would learn to read after he retired, which happened at age 71. With the exception of a few words, including "Orioles" and "Ravens!", Howard was truly unable to read. After initially being unaware that the letters of the alphabet were associated with certain sounds, Howard has certainly come a long way. His goal had been to be able to read such things as holiday and birthday cards, and the newspaper--and he is definitely coming along. It was a joy to witness his incredible excitement after he read the Baltimore Sun accounts of the Raven's football triumphs!
Howard found the Literacy Council through the O'Malley Senior Center in Glen Burnie. Our three years working together has brought me great happiness: I cherish the day he told me, "I feel so much better about myself." There have been many wonderful "firsts": Howard filled out an application and obtained a library card and he also filled out a Voter Registration form--enabling him to vote in recent Primary and General Elections. When he voted for the first time, he was applauded by everyone in the room!
I have learned a lot from my student and he helped to confirm my belief that dedicated hard work can conquer almost anything. Howard gets up very early, works on his reading, and then takes his daily 5-mile walk. He appears at the Severna Park Library for our study sessions without fail. He is reading now but knows there is still a long way to go. He will keep working!
|
Volunteer Recognition Dinner
Our tutors, students, and volunteers enjoyed both each other's company and an incredible variety and quantity of delicious food at our May 23 Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Various restaurants and businesses donated all the food for our event, which was graciously hosted by Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church in Severna Park. Andrew Pruski, President and At-Large Board of Education Member for the Anne Arundel County Public Schools, was our guest speaker for the evening, and Craig Sparks, Bowie Chorale Director, serenaded us throughout dinner. What a great evening!
|
|
Here is a list of companies and individuals that have generously contributed to recent AACLC events:
Businesses
30 lbs of coleslaw, 15 lbs of potato salad, 15 pounds of cucumber salad
Wegman's, Crofton
200 ciabatta rolls, 200 pats of butter, 200 bottles of water (chilled!)
Giant Food, Edgewater
Fruit, meat, and cheese trays totaling $100, as well as fruit baskets for Jill York and Marie Waring as a "thank you"for organizing this event.
Green Turtle, Edgewater
Supersized vegetable tray, supersized Signature Apple Salad tray
Chick-fil-A, Edgewater
1 large chicken nuggets tray, $35 door prize, free chicken sandwich coupons, hand delivered by their white cow!
Chick-fil-A, Pasadena
2 large chicken nuggets trays, 7 gallons of chilled iced tea
Marie Waring's State Farm Agency, Odenton
All of our paper products, tablecloths, sodas, ice, dinnerware
Staples, Annapolis
Office supplies, journals for tutors
Baltimore Coffee and Tea Co., Bestgate Rd., Annapolis
Coffee for our June 22 and July 27 tutor training sessions
Veronica Jagoe, AACLC Board Member
provided a large, deluxe meat and cheese tray
Craig Sparks, Bowie Chorale Director
played piano for us throughout dinner
Jill York, AACLC Event Committee,
supplied our lovely centerpieces, place mats, and tutor gifts
Joan Fulton, AACLC Event Committee
created 100 beautiful handmade bookmarks for us
WOW. You are loved and appreciated by our community! :-)
GREAT TIP: Please "Like" Pasadena's Chick-fil-A Facebook page to show our gratitude and to receive great insider coupons and promotions! The restaurant advertises special events/free food throughout the year exclusively to their Facebook fans.
|
 Great Give Update Thank you for making a difference!
The AACLC received 86 donations totaling $9,326.34, and received an additional $3,500 in awards and prizes, bringing our fundraising grand total to $12,826.34.
$500 - Golden Ticket
$1000 - 50 Donor Club
$2000 - 3rd Place for Most Donors in "Small but Mighty" nonprofit category (under $400,000).
We did extremely well, considering that most of the organizations which had more donors participate were in factvery large nonprofits (hospitals, libraries, schools). Out of 123 competing nonprofits, we finished in 8th place in terms of numbers of donors participating--quite an accomplishment! A BIG thanks also goes to Bob Caspar, our Executive Board President, for his $3,000 matching grant.
|
Tutor Tips & Twitter Notes
Please consider connecting with @AACLC, where you will find links to important articles on such topics as reading comprehension strategies, ESOL, and learning disabilities. We now have 1,082 followers and have sent out 1,237 "tweets" such as the ones listed below:
Things Struggling Readers Need to Learn to Read with Fluency. Excellent read, with great links to other articles.
|
2013 Top Rated Great Nonprofit
Award
|
|
Contact
Anne ArundelCounty Literacy Council, Inc.
410-269-4419 / programdirector@aaclc.org
|
|
 |
P.S. it's not to late to respond to our annual appeal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
