It’s easy to donate to Goodwill Online shopping can benefit JLSA New concept in Community Placements Nominate Volunteer Extraordinaire 5 5 6 7 AJLI President to visit The ‘true gifts’ of the season Annual Fund starts with a Bang Volunteers tutor at Seton Hmoe 2 2 3 4
DEC 2008
S C R A W L S The Junior League of San Antonio, Inc.
JLSA introduces LITERACY San Antonio On October 15th, JLSA invited local media to attend a launch event graciously hosted by Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Many civic leaders, literacy advocates and media representatives participated in this exciting and historic event. Several special guest speakers spoke on different aspects of the issue: County Judge Nelson Wolff spoke about how illiteracy will impact the future development of our city; Margaret Doughty of Literacy Powerline, a Literacy Coalition Consultant, spoke about the importance of communities coming together around the issue of illiteracy and how the Junior League is doing something very unique in San Antonio that will help ensure LITERACY San Antonio’s success; Ryan Sullivan of Senator Carlos Uresti’s office spoke about the importance of advocacy to change legislation around illiteracy; and AJ Rodriguez, the Deputy City Manager, joined the luncheon by video, speaking to the importance of what the Junior League is doing and the impact that LITERACY San Antonio will have on our community. The event was covered by three TV stations and radio affiliates, including Texas Public Radio. Links to view this coverage will soon be available at www.jlsa.org and www.literacysanantonio.org The group was reminded that, in San Antonio, 25% of our residents are functionally illiterate. For the individual, illiteracy means frustration, shame, ignorance and desperation. For our com-
Carolyn Kelley, Tiffany Mills and Kimberly Blackburn at the LITERACY San Antonio launch
munity, illiteracy is at the root of our most challenging social and economic problems: high school drop-out rates, teen pregnancy, child abuse, unemployment, poverty, and crime. For our city’s future, illiteracy produces an uneducated workforce and slows the pace of economic development. By raising literacy rates, we can help improve the outlook on these and other social issues. JLSA announced that in response to this crisis, we are making a significant commitment to be the organizing force behind LITERACY San Antonio. At the heart of LITERACY San Antonio is the belief that San Antonio, united in our objective and working as a whole, can change individual expectations and behaviors. As members of our community, we are all responsible to advocate for and parContinued on Page 3