FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 9, 2003

CONTACT:
Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119
Anne Murr, (641) 342-3368 (cell)

SUPPORT THE RIGHT TO READ BY JOINING DRAKE'S WALK FOR ADULT LITERACY ON SATURDAY, MAY 17

A walk-a-thon to raise funds for the Drake University Adult Literacy Center will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17, on the Drake campus.

Registration and the walk will begin at the School of Education, 3206 University Ave. Participants are asked to solicit pledges in advance of the walk, which will encompass a 1.5-mile tour of the Drake campus.

For 27 years, the Drake Adult Literacy Center has offered tutoring to adults with such low literacy skills that they cannot complete job applications, figure out their bills, read medicine instructions correctly or apply for job promotions.

The center serves 70 adults as well as 20 children in their families. The adults receiving tutoring are among the 38 percent of Polk County residents whose low literacy skills prevent them from functioning independently with the written word, said Anne Murr, volunteer coordinator of the center.

The program is so successful that one client, a grandmother in her 40s, is now able to help her grandchildren learn to read, Murr said.
Although the center has 80 volunteer tutors, more are needed to serve the people on the center's waiting list. Tutors receive training and then meet one-on-one with a client twice a week at the Drake Adult Literacy Center.

Contributions to the Drake Adult Literacy Center may be sent to the Drake University School of Education, 3206 University Ave., Des Moines, IA 50311. For more information about registering for the Walk for Adult Literacy, call Susan Harn at (515) 271-3726.