November 2020 Newsletter


Happy Halloween

Director’s Corner

We have some exciting events coming up: The Charity Golf Tournament put on by MM Golf and Travel and Elwin Miles on November 23 as well as Giving Tuesday on December 1. As of November 5, we have 16 students/tutors work-ing together. That is almost as high as our Pre-COVID Shut-Down numbers of 17. But we need more tutors!

We have 11 students waiting for a match. If you would like a second student or know a volunteer, please let me know.

Here are our tutoring needs:

• 1 (online tutoring in math);
• 6 (reading – 1 adult, 5 students) Conway Library (meeting at C3 Coffee Shop until library opens);
• 1 (reading – adult) at Chapin Memorial Library;
• 1 (reading) Carolina Forest Library (meeting at Dunkin’ in Carolina Forest until library opens);
• 2 (reading – 1 adult, 1 student) Socastee Library (meeting at Inlet Square Mall until library opens).

Volunteer Orientation and Training

COVID AND FLU: It is important to remember we require the wearing of masks, sanitizing hands, tables, and chairs before and after a tutoring session. COVID is at a new peak that none of us want to experience.

Please stay safe and healthy.

Dodi Hodgins, Ph.D., Executive Director

We Appreciate Our Tutors! Tutors in Actions

Calls for Volunteers! Charity Golf Tournament – November 23rd

We are still in need of raffle prize donations. We also need folks to fill snack bags or to provide some chips or other snacks to put in the bags. Bags will be filled in an outdoor venue, and everyone will be wearing masks.
Please contact Dodi if you would like to assist with the charity golf tournament.
Businesses can still sponsor a hole. A sponsorship costs $100 per hole and comes with the opportunity to have a sign placed at the sponsored hole.

To sponsor a hole, please visit the following link:
https://mmgolfandtravel.conilnew-events/2020/8/25/ palmetto-literacy-council-charity-golf-tournament

For Tutors and Parents

Featured Reading Strategy “Cause and Effect

• Identify cause-and-effect relationships in an article or a story;
• Understand the link between a series of causes and effects in an article or a story;
• Recognize how a series of cause-and-effect relationships leads to the resolution of a story problem

Scan the text looking for causes and effects. Remind students to look for signal words, such as because, cause, as a result, why, since, so, and therefore. This strategy can also be used to illustrate how one effect may become the cause of a new effect, and how causes and effects flow in a chain. When appropriate, have students add arrows to show additional connections between causes and effects.

GIVINGTUESDAY – December 1, 2020

This year we are participating in #givingtuesday. Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement that focuses on the power of people to help communities through their donations. This year our goal is to raise money so that 100 students can have the materials they need to learn to read. The cost of materials for one student is $300. It costs $25 to replace the used material for one student.
We are grateful for any donation large or small from individuals or businesses. All donors will be thanked on Facebook and in our newsletter. We appreciate everyone who makes PLC a success!

Donate for Giving Tuesday at palmettoliteracycouncil.org

Giving Tuesday was initially started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Founda-tion as a response to commercialization and consumerism in the post-Thanksgiving season (Black Friday and Cyber Monday). The date range is November 27 to December 3, and is always five days after the holiday.

Thank you to our Supporters

• Peggie and Doug Anderson
• Suzanne Boulet
• Elwin and Jackie Miles Foundation
• Bill Endorf

How you can support PLC Individual membership: $25/year Pays for materials for one student
Business membership: $50/year Pays for materials for two students Your business card will be featured in the newsletter and on our website
Donate through palmettoliteracycouncil.org

Congrats, Leah Sullivan

PLC would like to thank Leah Sullivan, who has been our extern student from Miller-Motte College for the last five weeks. We are going to miss her desperately. She will graduate in December and is looking for full-time employment. She is amazing at details, has excellent customer service skills, and is very skilled with Microsoft Office (for example letters, flyers, applications forms, tables) and Excel. She is ambitious, works well independently, and completes projects ranging from working with new databases, fundraising, spreadsheet development, making cold calls, flyer development to putting together training materials. We wish her the best! We know she will make us proud and will have many positive accomplishments.


Meet a Volunteer: Cheryl Burns

All non-profit organizations rely on volunteers to run smoothly. Palmetto Literacy Council is fortunate to have just such a volunteer: Cheryl Burns, who helps out in PLC’s office. For the past two months, Cheryl has worked with an online student data management system designed specifically for the adult and community education team. This program enables Dodi to effectively organize and match tutors with students. And that’s what PLC is all about!


Cheryl, who lives in Murrells Inlet with her husband Tim, said she learned about PLC through Volunteer Match last winter before the coronavirus shut everything down. According to Cheryl, she and Dodi immediately hit it off.
“I enjoy being with her and I enjoy helping people,” she said. “I started working in the office and found that there was a lot I could do to assist her in what she wants to accomplish.”

Three years ago, Cheryl and Tim, who both owned successful businesses, retired to Murrells Inlet where they now spend their winters. In the summer, the couple head back up to Ohio where they also own a home. They spend a fair amount of time traveling to visit their three children and grandchildren as well.

Cheryl, who is 66, recalls that after she retired from operating a bail bond business, she took some time to replenish. “I had to learn how to just be me. After that, I was able to look out for volunteer work,” she said.

She wanted to give back and help others. In addition to volunteering for PLC, Cheryl also works with Barnabas Horse Foundation, a nonprofit organization that offers equine-assisted therapy for individuals and families recovering from a traumatic experience.
“I’ve always loved horses and it’s wonderful to be with them,” she said.

In addition to volunteering, Cheryl enjoys photography and keeping in close touch with her family through Face Time. She plans to spend the winter in Las Vegas with her daughter who is expecting her second child.
Cheryl is looking forward to creating opportunities for PLC volunteers to get together on a regular basis, sharing stories about tutoring successes and learning from one another.

“This can be a great learning tool,” she said. “We need to get to know one another. We need to sit down and talk!”
Hopefully, we can look forward to having these opportunities in the near future.


MISSION STATEMENT

To improve the literacy of youth and adults in our community by teaching/tutoring basic literacy skills for those who struggle with reading, writing and/or math.

You can also read our newsletter here.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIR: Dodi Hodges: [email protected]
VICE CHAIR: Shawna Roessler [email protected]
TREASURER: Maria Denney [email protected]
SECRETARY: Preston McKever-Floyd [email protected]
FUNDRAISING CO-CHAIRS: Patricia D’Ascoli [email protected], Stephanie Southworth [email protected]
ADMINISTRATIVE ASST.: Jeanne Bogart [email protected]

MAILING ADDRESS: 1229 38TH Avenue North, #130 Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 1010 5th Avenue North Ext., Suite 101I Surfside Beach, SC 29575

FOR INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS:

OFFICE PHONE: 843-945-9278
OFFICE EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.palmettoliteracy.org

Charity Golf Tournament

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