If You Can Read This...

From the March issue of AARP on line

"There's a bumper sticker that says, "If you can read this, you are too darn close." Imagine if you couldn't read that sticker - or anything else.

ProLiteracy Worldwide, an adult literacy advocacy group, estimates that 30 million Americans over age 16 don't read well enough to fill out a job application. But federal and state cutbacks make funding an issue for literacy programs. "As organizations try to serve more learners with fewer dollars, the assistance volunteers provide in working with adult learners and performing other tasks can be the difference between surviving or not", says ProLiteracy's Barry Benson."

Federal and state education budget cuts will be deep this funding cycle. Adult and Family literacy programs may not receive any funding. Call/email/write your legislator TODAY to ensure that these critical programs receive funding so that Texas can continue to be competitive with a qualified workforce. Meanwhile, consider becoming a LIFT volunteer teacher! Call Kathy at 214-824-2000 x 232 to find out how.

Lisa Hembry

LIFT Celebrates the Best Volunteers on the Planet & Elsewhere

LIFT will celebrate our incredibly wonderful volunteer teachers, board members and others at a special event on Saturday, April 16th from 10am until Noon at St. Monica Cathedral Church, 9933 Midway Road. LIFT has English as a Second Language classes at St. Monica, Monday through Thursday evenings. So, we're especially grateful to the church for hosting our Annual Volunteer Appreciation event again this year.

Already, we have a Kindle donated as a door prize. If you have a gift of love that you can share with LIFT to celebrate our fantastic volunteers, please call me. 214-824-2000 x 222.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Lisa

Ingram Micro, LLC donates laptops to LIFT

An ANGEL from Ingram Micro, LLC in Carrollton sent an email to Melissa Gray, LIFT's daytime Learning Center Manager this morning offering 5 IBM Thinkpads!!! She said the company wanted to donate the laptops for educational use. Of course, we responded immediately accepting the donation.

The amazing thing is that Rudy Murillo, LIFT's IT Manager, told me recently that we were desperately in need of 4 new computers. I put a sticky on my computer to remind myself everyday to put that on our Wish List. Someone at Ingram Micro heard our plea and added another one for good measure (even though I never got around to put an urgent request on our web site).

Thank you Debra at Ingram Micro...you are LIFT's Angel of the Day. We appreciate you.

If there are any other laptops or desktop computers floating around out there in the ether, just call us and we'll give you a good home helping adults learn to read.

Literacy Instruction for Texas
Celebrating 50 Years Teaching Adults To Read

Skip Hollandsworth to Keynote Champions of Literacy Luncheon

Texas Monthly Magazine Executive Editor and award-winning investigative journalist Skip Hollandsworth will bring his wit and humor to Dallas for LIFT's annual Champions of Literacy Luncheon. The event will be Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 11:30 am at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. Since it's our 50th Year Teaching Adults to Read, we will honor 50 Champions of Literacy on our website and in the program.

Put this event on your calendar today because it's sure to be a sellout! (Plus you might even get your photo in TM).

Lisa

Many thanks to the 14 community volunteers and 2 United Way staff that visited LIFT last week for the United Way Metropolitan Dallas "Job Skills Panel" site visit and proposal review. They were interested, engaged and most of all...(since they came to LIFT right after lunch)...they stayed awake! That was probably because our Director of Programs, Cheryl Parker, had so many interactive reading activities for them. She kept their physical energy going and had them doing intense mental gymnastics as well. But, they were also came prepared and committed to do a thorough job.

Thanks to LIFT volunteer teachers John Norfleet, Stella Via, and Alice Neufeld and LIFT students Jessie Allen, Robert Bailey and Myriam Drake for sharing their experiences with the UWMD Job Skills Panel. LIFT board members Richard Mauldin from Texas Capital Bank and Barbara Walker from Verizon took time from their busy schedules to help us tell the LIFT success story.

Most of all thanks to our great in-house LIFT Team for doing anything and everything to ensure that the site visit ran like a well-oiled machine.

Thanks everybody! And, thank God it's over! We'll find out in about 6 weeks if United Way will include LIFT in its United 2020 Community Impact Team. Hope so.

Lisa

Celebrating 50 Years Teaching Adults to Read

LIFT will celebrate its 50 Years of Teaching Adults to Read with events every month this year. This month we invite you to enjoy a day of golf at Prestonwood Country Club on Monday, March 28th. The Vance C. Miller, Jr. Memorial Golf Tournament benefits LIFT and the SMU Classical Guitar Scholarship. Look on our website under Events for more information.

Happy Birthday LIFT

Join LIFT at Community Fairs & Events!

LIFT celebrates 50 Years Teaching Adults to Read! Meet us at the community events listed below.

Metropolitan Dallas Literacy Coalition Forum
United Way Metropolitan Dallas
1800 N. Lamar
Dallas, Texas 75202
Thursday, February 24
9 am - Noon
Join the discussion with adult literacy providers and educators.


The Child Care Group Oak Cliff
115 S. Marsalis
Dallas, Texas
Wednesday, February 23
3:00Pm – 4:00PM



2) The Child Care Group Anderson
625 Avenue B
Garland , Texas
Thursday, February 24
3:00PM – 5:00PM



3) KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program)
3200 Lancaster, Suite 230-A
Dallas, Texas
Saturday, March 12
1:00PM – 4:00PM


Hope to see you there.
Lisa & LIFT Team