june 2011 newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
The March 11, 2011 earthquake and
tsunami in
northern Japan
was an immense
tragedy, with a
loss of life and
property that will
never be fully
recovered. In the
wake of this
disaster, Literacy
Volunteers decided to hold a
change drive here at the center to
benefit the Red Cross’ relief effort
for Japan. Initially, we thought it
would be a simple penny drive, but
our students, tutors, board mem-
bers and volunteers came through
big time, bringing in change, bills,
and even checks! We raised $241.oo
for the Red Cross, which we pre-
sented to Robin Moore at B-U High
School on Friday, May 27, 2011.
The Japanese relief effort will be an
ongoing campaign, and Literacy
Volunteers is proud to have been
able to contribute to this cause.
Literacy Volunteers has had either an
Americorps State
Volunteer or Ameri-
corps*VISTA for the
past seven years, and
through the com-
bined efforts of these
dedicated volunteers
in conjunction with
the hard work of the
director and other
volunteers at the center, we have been
able to grow our literacy program to new
and record-breaking
heights.
Americorps Week, a
week set aside to honor
those who serve as
Americorps volunteers
and to recognize their
accomplishments, was
May 14th through the
21st of this year, and
the theme this year was
“My Americorps Story.”
Literacy Volunteers’ VISTA Jennifer
Scott, along with fellow VISTAs
Amanda Poggenburg (Upshur
FRN) and Sarah Wilkinson
(Stockert Youth Center), made
this year’s Americorps Week one
to remember. After petitioning the
Upshur County Commission to
officially declare Americorps
Week for the county, the three
VISTAs held a tree-planting cere-
mony at Stockert Youth Center on
Monday, May 16th to commemo-
rate the work that Upshur County
Americorps
volunteers,
both past and
present, have
put into the
Upshur County
community and
to provide a
lasting symbol
of the fine work
yet to be done
by future
Americorps volunteers.
Literacy Volunteers’ Red Cross Change
Drive and Americorps Week
Spring Book Sale Success Literacy Volun-
teers is gaining a
reputation for
putting on quality,
bi-annual book
sales Though the
work is hard, the
rewards and visi-
bility are great,
and this year’s
spring book sale was no exception:
Literacy Volun-
teers made a
record-smashing
profit! Between a
large number of
high quality
books given by
generous donors,
a healthy amount
of media public-
ity, and the solid efforts of all of our
volunteers, it’s safe to say that this
year’s was a huge success!
Additionally, this year we partnered
with Brenda Richardson of Silpada
Jewelry. Her generous fundraiser
provided an extra $200 for the center!
Silpada is now an ongoing fundraiser
for Literacy Volunteers—if you are
looking for sterling silver jewelry as a
gift (or a treat) contact Literacy Vol-
unteers for more information!
Bookworm’s May Reading List
Classic: “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
Contemporary: “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip
Roth
Popular: “Water for Elephants” by
Sara Gruen
Easy Reading: “Living Sunlight: How
Plants Bring the Earth to Life” by
Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm
Spotlight: Computer Classes 2
Student Spotlight: Debra Haney 2
Board Member Spotlight: Jay Bryant 2
Tutor Spotlight: Ben Crutchfield 2
EQT Grant Update 3
Annual Appreciation Banquet 3
Got Junk? Annual Yard Sale 3
Inside this issue:
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Volume 4, Issue 2
June 2011
VISTA Jennifer Scott presenting Red Cross
representative Robin Moore with the jar.
VISTAs Jennifer Scott, Sarah Wilkinson, and
Amanda Poggenburg stand around their
freshly planted red dogwood tree.
and settling into his lifelong profes-
sion: teaching the automotive trade
to Upshur County students. Forever
humble, Jay was recently asked to
serve as a national judge for a 4AAA
student auto skills competition in
Detroit, Michigan. As the WV State
Competition Manager, Jay has helped
many burgeoning students through
the competition, which provides
$2.5million dollars in scholarships to
students at a state and national level. When
asked why he helps out so much, both at Liter-
acy Volunteers and 4AAA, he explained that he
believed them to be worthwhile causes.
When Jay isn’t volunteering, he can be seen
fishing, taking his granddaughter to twirling
practice or parades, reading detective novels, or
collecting stamps: Jay’s stamp collection, which
was initially started by his father, a post office
veteran, stretches from 1941 to present!
Jay Bryant has been a member of the
board since 2003, and says that it was
Dr. Ramirez, our board president, who
eventually convinced him to get more
involved with the center. Jay is a con-
stant staple of our book and yard sales,
often working the check-out table
from open to close on each sale day.
Jay was born and raised in Buckhan-
non, leaving only briefly for school in
Danville, VA before returning home
it, but he says that he has stayed on all
of these years because he truly believes
Literacy Volunteers to be a worthy
activity. He started as a board member
and went on to become a tutor and
volunteer, which is what he continues
to do now.
Ben is originally from North Carolina,
but moved to Queensboro, NY after a
three year stint in the Army and ob-
taining his Masters in Library Science
As a former West Virginia Wesleyan College librar-
ian, Ben has seen his share of books. But by volun-
teering with Literacy Volunteers, the UMC Annual
Conference, and the Lions Club, Ben seems to see
even more books in retirement! We caught up with
Ben to ask him a few questions about how he came
to be involved with Literacy Volunteers.
Ben has been involved with Literacy Volunteers
since its inception in 1985 as a representative from
the Lions Club. Carolyn Stotts, our founder and
original director, was the one who told him about
from UNC-Chapel Hill. He and his wife
decided that Queensboro was no place
to raise a family, and on a whim Ben
decided to apply for a job opening at a
college library in a town in West Vir-
ginia called Buckhannon… Ben got the
job, and the rest is history.
When Ben’s not volunteering his time,
he likes to swim, to play chess, to travel
the globe, and, unsurprisingly, to read.
Page 2
Board Member Spotlight: Jay Bryant
Tutor Spotlight: Ben Crutchfield
B e t w e e n t h e L in es
since. When asked, Debra says that her
favorite part of being a student here at the
center is the learning, but she also really
enjoys being with the people here, and
going on the EQT student outings!
Debra is originally from Baltimore, Mary-
land, but her family moved to Buckhannon
when she was in the fourth grade, and she
has been here ever since. She lives here with
her mother, her brother, her three kids (and
fourth on the way) as well as
five guinea pigs and two chin-
chillas! She says she likes to
take her kids to the park
(although her 14 year-old son
is always trying to get her to
play basketball with him) and
she likes to come to school to
learn with her tutor. Good
luck with the new baby,
Debra!
Our student spotlight this month is on Debra
Haney, a two-year student of Literacy Volunteers
with a baby boy on the way in August! We sat
down to learn a little bit more about Debra, or
Debbie as she is also called, and how she came to
be at Literacy Volunteers.
Debra says that her and her brother both joined
Literacy Volunteers a few years ago, and when her
brother backed out, so did she...briefly. But she
came back and has been with the program ever
Student Spotlight: Debra Haney
members of the community who
may wish to learn more about com-
puters. In an era defined by web
connectivity, we are proud to be
able to offer these free computer
tutoring services to those who most
need it.
Our plans for the future include
shifting our present office arrange-
ment to allow for a more dedicated
space for computer classes and
Literacy Volunteers is pleased to finally be able to
put the spotlight on our computer tutoring ses-
sions! After months of trying to find a suitable tutor
for the position, we went and found two! Leon
Lucas, who also works one-on-one as a literacy
tutor, is in charge of the beginners computer tutor-
ing course, and Bryan Stewart is the tutor in charge
of our more advanced course, covering everything
from E-Bay to Excel.
We’re very pleased to be able to open these services
up not only to interested students, but interested
tutoring and recruit-
ing community mem-
bers who may have an
interest. If you know
anyone who may like
more information
about free computer
tutoring, contact the
Literacy Center using
the information on the
back of this newsletter.
Spotlight: Computer Classes
Though we make an effort to thank students, volun-
teers, tutors, donors, and community partners
throughout the work year by word, by thank you
note, and by the occasional gift card, the truth of
the matter is that sometimes, we just can’t say thank
you enough. And for that, we have our Annual
Appreciation Banquet.
Held in May at the close of the center’s school year,
the banquet is our way of recognizing the efforts
and involvement of our volunteers and tutors, the
achievements of our students, and the generosity of
our donors and other community partners. As a non
-profit, we do not always have the means to send a
thank you gift to someone who has done something
wonderful for us, but we always send a thank you
note. But for those that have gone above and be-
yond (and there are many who have) we try to rec-
ognize them with a lovely certificate and a free
dinner.
This year’s banquet had a color scheme rather than
an actual theme, with ivory parchment and corn-
flower blue being the colors of the evening. The
banquet started off with an invocation by Father
Ron Nikodem and after a few opening remarks by
Dr. Rigoberto Ramirez and Director Linda Feola, the
guests were excused from their tables to join the
buffet line. Dinner that evening was a tasty baked
rigatoni with house salad and delicious homemade
rolls, and dessert was an exciting medley of tutor,
student, and volunteer contributed potluck desserts.
Once everyone was properly fed and watered, the
rest of the program commenced, opening with a
speech by Mary Kay Bond, the State Director of
Read Aloud WV entitled “It’s Not Just the Inabil-
ity to Read”, about how literacy is the root of
many of our present and most taxing social
dilemmas, and with literacy comes hope for a
brighter future. Afterwards, the presentation of
awards commenced with board members, stu-
dents, tutors, special volunteers, and selected
donors. We had many more awards to present,
but in the interest of keeping the evening brief,
we have opted to present those awards at a later
date. Dr. Ramirez issued the closing remarks and
the banquet was adjourned.
This year’s banquet was a lovely success! See you
next May, Literacy supporters!
Annual Appreciation Banquet a Success
V o l u m e 4 , I s s ue 2
Our Student Community Empowerment Pro-
gram, funded by a generous grant from the EQT
Corporation in Pittsburgh, is in full swing, and
we have gone so many places in just a few short
months! In the last issue, we mentioned trips to
a basketball game, a first aid workshop, and a
restaurant etiquette course. In this issue, we’d
like to talk a little more about the other trips and
outings we’ve gone on with our EQT students!
On March 7th, we took the students to Lam-
bert’s Winery for a tour of their wine-making
facilities—complete with a few free samples for
our students over 21! In keeping with the wine
theme, lunch followed at Gino’s, an Italian res-
taurant in Weston.
The next outing was lunch at and a tour of St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Buckhannon on March 14th.
The food was pretty tasty, and we had two amaz-
ing tour guides! It was a great experience to see
the behind the scenes side of the hospital, espe-
cially in the lab, where the students got to look
at blood through a microscope!
On March 17th, we took the students to a nice
Irish dinner at First United Methodist Church
and to a performance of The Glass Menagerie at
West Virginia Wesleyan. To kill time between
the dinner and the play, our VISTA Jennifer
Scott took the students on a brief, informal tour
of the Wesleyan campus, offering trivia tidbits
and historical facts.
Moving into April, we took our students on a
fantastic tour of the Upshur County Courthouse
on April 5th. The tour, led by Debbie Thacker-
Wilfong, was informative and fun, and our stu-
dents got a lot of their questions about city gov-
ernment answered!
The April 11 trip to Hinkle Glass was our most
spontaneous trip yet! After the tour of Hinkle’s
Glass, which was shorter than anticipated, we
found ourselves with a dearth of free time be-
tween the end of the tour and lunch. So rather
than go back to the center and twiddle our
thumbs, we went to the Sago memorial and to
the WV Wildlife Center before heading back to
Buckhannon for a Mexican lunch at Michoacan!
Finally, on April 13th, we went on a grand tour of
Buckhannon media outlets, starting with a tour
by Amanda Hayes at the Record Delta, going
onto the C-92 radio station at WVWC, a break
for lunch at CJ Maggies, and finishing with a tour
of the Channel 3 headquarters.
Page 3
EQT Grant Update: What Have We Been Up To?
Literacy Volunteers partnered up with West Virginia
Wesleyan College’s Center for Community Engage-
ment and Office of Residence Life for this year’s
“Got Junk?” drive at the college. As students move
out of the dorms, many of them realize that they no
longer need that rug, or that mini-fridge, and maybe
all of those clothes won’t fit in their car for the ride
home. The junk drive invited students to donate
their unwanted (but gently used) items to Literacy
Volunteers as they packed up and moved out of the
dorms. As three truckloads of clothes, furniture, and
knickknacks would suggest, the drive was a great
success!
As for the reason for our drive, our annual yard sale,
it also went well! Between receiving a sizeable dona-
tion from First United Methodist Church, who
kindly passed on their leftover stock from their
basement sale, and our al-
ready large stock from the
Got Junk drive, our dedi-
cated volunteers, mostly
students, tackled the daunt-
ing task of opening and
sorting every bag of donated
goods with grace and good
humor. And of course, we’d
be dead in the water if it
weren’t for the efforts and
manpower of the Opportu-
nity House, whose volunteers again proved their
mettle once again by helping to load and unload the
massive amounts of donated goods.
This year’s sale featured an unprecedented
amount of clothing, with
relatively little in the
larger furniture or house-
wares department. Even
so, our successful adver-
tising and prime location
at the Episcopal Church of
the Transfiguration al-
lowed for loads of foot
traffic, and we made a tidy
profit to keep our center
running for another day!
We’d like to say a special thanks to the Clothes
Closet, who gracefully received the items leftover
from our sale. Keep up the fantastic work!
Got Junk? Literacy Volunteers’ Annual Yard Sale
Want to help Literacy Volunteers, but don’t have the time? Here are some
easy things you can do to help keep our center running strong!
-Do you work in an office, or just have a few empty ink cartridges lying
around? Literacy Volunteers is always collecting ink cartridges for the Staples
Rewards program to exchange for office supplies, so bring yours in today!
-Have extra books lying around? We accept donations for our bi-annual book
sales year round. Call for pick up, or just drop them by when you’re around!
-Do you shop at Kroger’s? Chances are you could make us some fundraising
money! Don’t forget to use your Kroger’s Organization card every time you
shop to raise money for Literacy Volunteers at no cost to you! If you don’t
have a card, but would like one, come by the center and we’ll get you one!
-We can always use office supplies and paper products (paper towels, toilet
paper, trash bags, etc.). If you have extras, or are thinking about doing a drive
at your church or civic group, keep us in mind!
-Want to buy a gift for a special lady in your life (or get something nice for
yourself?). Brenda Richardson of Silpada jewelry has partnered with us to give
Literacy 25% of any order placed on Literacy’s behalf. Check the center for
more information and a catalog!
The Mission of Literacy Volunteers of Upshur County is to foster and promote
literacy and life skills among adults in Upshur County, WV who have low level
reading and math skills.
Visit us on the web!
http://lvaupco.webs.com
New on the Website:
-Back issues of “Between the Lines” are
currently being archived on the website in
the “Newsletters” section in .PDF form!
-Our “Links” section is currently experienc-
ing an overhaul. Do you have any helpful
links to suggest? Contact Literacy Volun-
teers and suggest your favorite Literacy
links!
-Unsure of when a meeting date or time is?
Check the Calendar of Events!
Literacy Volunteers of Upshur County
34 Franklin Street
Buckhannon, WV 26201
304-472-2343
Literacy Volunteers of Upshur County
34 Franklin Street
Buckhannon, WV 26201