Recently the Northwest Ohio Literacy Council held their 13th annual Scrabble FUNdraiser at the St. Rita’s Mercy Hospital Auxiliary Conference Center. It was a rousing success due to the support of the entire community that was involved, but I specifically need to mention a few special sponsors.
Thanks go out to St. Rita’s and the Kewpee as major sponsors; Meijer, Telephone Services Co., Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio/Institute for Orthapaedic Surgery, Lima Memorial, and UNOH as program sponsors; and Lima Auto Mall and Superior Credit Union as round sponsors. Many other local businesses donated goods or services that also helped. A special thanks goes to the Ladies of Altrusa for their wonderful food and unwavering support of adult literacy.
As I mentioned at the event, any money raised is basically the community helping the community as it supports our mission of teaching adults to read in our region. Here, as it is nationally, 1 in 6 adults read at a third grade level or below. If you are reading this, I need not tell you of the ramifications of low literacy. The mission of the Literacy Council is to break that cycle of poor reading, writing, and numeracy issues in local families.
Again, a sincere thank you to all that supported us this year, together we make a difference, even if only one person at a time.
Ken Blanchard, executive director, Northwest Ohio Literacy Council
