April 2010 - News

 Literacy Council receives $3,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The CCLC was presented a $3,000 check at the Bryans Road Dollar General (Store #2696) on March 24, 2010. The check was presented by Jackson Routh, Corporate Initiatives Administrator in Goodlettsville, TN. The Bryan’s Road Dollar General is managed by Mr. Bill Black, and has been voted number one in the United States for the past 6 years for the most monies collected for literacy. This year, the store collected more than $27,000 in dollars and coins in literacy donations. The literacy donation box is prominently displayed at the check-out counters in all Dollar General stores. Since 1993, The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants to non-profit organizations helping more than 2.1 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, obtaining their GED or improving their English proficiency. CCLC is honored to have been selected again this year to receive a grant, along with local schools. Please visit Mr. Black’s store and let him know how much we appreciate him and his employees.

Pictured in the photo from left to right are store employees, CCLC President Sonja Scharles (holding check, Jack Faherty, Vice President, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Bill Black, Store Manager).

February/March 2010

In February, we mailed out a letter by our President Sonja Scharles inviting individuals to send in monetary donations to help us recover costs associated with materials we purchase to train tutors and teach our students. These materials are expensive and must be replenished every few months. We now have almost 100 active volunteers tutoring and/or volunteering in some other capacity (board member, etc.) Donations can continue to be made to “The Charles County Literacy Council” and mailed to CCLC, 10250 La Plata Road, La Plata, MD. We appreciate all donations, no matter how small. You can become a Literacy Champion for $500.00 or more, Literacy Partner for $250.00-499.00, Literacy Supporter for $100.00-$249.00, $67.27 will sponsor materials for 1 tutor and one student for 6 months; and an Associate Member for one year for $25.00. For more information contact the CCLC at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net.

We had a very successful early bird tutor session prior to the beginning of our March meeting. Several tutors came and participated in a round table discussion to talk about any tutoring problems they were having or to learn of ideas that work with other tutors. We plan to hold additional tutor exchange sessions every few months.

In December, we raised almost $400 in donations from the Borders gift-wrapping we held. We also met several people who indicated an interest in becoming a volunteer tutor and one person who is seeking help in reading. The Literacy Council also has partnered with the Armed Forces Recruiting Office in Waldorf. The military recruiters have busily been referring young men and women to our office for tutoring to help them primarily improve their math skills so they can pass the ASVAB (the military entrance exam.)

December 2009 - News

Our annual Borders gift-wrapping fundraiser is taking place Tuesday, December 8 (from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.) and Wednesday, December 16 (from 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.) at the Borders Bookstore in Waldorf, MD. CCLC volunteers will wrap customers’ gifts/books for free during these periods (donations will be accepted.) These funds help cover costs for new tutor and student books. We have spent almost $3,000 on tutoring and student materials this year. Drop by to say hello or get your book shopping/gift-wrapping taken care of.

November 2009

The Charles County Literacy Council has just completed the Fall 2009 Volunteer Tutor Training workshop (October 27-29) chaired by Sonja Scharles, CCLC President. We graduated 19 tutors ranging in age from 24 to 75. All are excited and ready to tutor. Tutor-student matching is in progress. A million thanks to Sonja and all the presenters for a magnificent workshop. The presenters included Sonja Scharles, Art Payton, Jack Faherty, Michael Ellis Jeanette Madison, Deryl Danner, Sr., Mary Jones, Meg Overbey, Elizabeth Sinnes and Mary Vargo. Thanks also to Renard Johnson, Shirlene Savoy and Christy Washington who worked at the greeter table. We received an array of positive comments from the newly trained tutors on their evaluation forms and welcome them. Special appreciation and thanks to Darlene Adams, Board Treasurer for planning and overseeing dinner for the workshop. We also received $171.00 in donations during the workshop from new tutors. These funds will help offset costs associated with materials for future workshops. Thank you new tutors!

October 2009 - News

If you would like to become a volunteer tutor with the Charles County Literacy Council, please go to our Events Page to register for the next tutor workshop. Space is limited.

September 2009 - The Charles County Literacy Council has moved.

Charles County Literacy has moved its headquarters to 10250 La Plata Road (Route 488), La Plata, MD 20646. Our office is inside the United Way Building. The new phone number is 301-934-6488. There will still be a Waldorf location for pick-up/drop-off of books for tutors who work in DC or live in Waldorf as well as assessment and tutoring locations in Waldorf. For more information, you may contact the office by phone or email, charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net

We held our first meeting of the season on Tuesday, September 1 at our new office location in the meeting room. Several tutors also attended and provided great input. Plan to join us on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at 10250 La Plata Road, Waldorf, MD 20646 (meeting room). The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.

May 2009 - News

The Charles County Literacy Council participated in this year’s Charles County Government Day “Go Green” at the Government Building in La Plata, MD on Saturday, May 9. Sonja Scharles, President, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Deryl Danner, Sr. and Mary Jones, both newly trained tutors, helped occupy our CCLC display table. The event was hugely successful with many vendors and local charities and organizations present, including the United Way, with which we are a partner agency. We talked to many visitors who were interested in either being tutored or becoming a tutor themselves. We also made contact with several organizations we plan to include in our outreach initiative efforts.

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a $3,000 grant to the Literacy Council on April 28, 2009 at the Dollar General store (store # 2696) in Bryan’s Road, MD. The check was presented by Jackson Routh, Corporate Community Initiatives Administrator. The Bryan’s Road Dollar General in Indian Head, MD is managed by Mr. Bill Black, and has been voted number one in the Nation for the past five years for the most monies collected for literacy. This year, the store collected $28,956.88 in literacy donations. Since 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded $27.6 million dollars in grants. CCLC is honored to have been selected this year to receive a grant, along with local schools.

Pictured in photo holding check (left to right)Delegate Peter Murphy, Center, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Bill Black, Store Manager, Renate Carr. Sonja Scharles, CCLC President is shown 2nd row, far right.