“We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.” Sir Winston Churchill

My friends, this month’s message will be short and heartfelt. When I came to San Antonio Youth Literacy a bit over 2 years ago, I was blown away by the work that goes on here and by the people who foster that work. After being a professional public school educator for over 30 years (oops giving away my age!) I can tell you that I thought that I had been exposed to most every program around and many of them as 2.0 or 3.0 versions. I am here to tell you, and in no way taking any personal credit for it, that the Reading Buddy Program is the best one around. Not only do our professionally trained program staff provide excellent training for our volunteers, but they are there for them all year, every step of the way monitoring the integrity of our program and assisting school staffs and volunteers as needed to insure the continued success of our students. It is because of this high level of dedication from the SAYL program staff that school districts across San Antonio want our program and why teachers give our Reading Buddies unsolicited praise at every opportunity.

Of course, this takes money. Every year we hold our major fundraising event, our SAYL Luncheon, and yes, I’ve mentioned it several times over the past few months. You see, we offer this excellent program to our partner school districts for no charge. That is why fundraising is so vital. So, with just days before our October 5 luncheon date, I implore you to come be a part of a celebration of our success and endorse our efforts to continue this vital mission.  As I’m sure that I have reminded everyone in previous newsletters, we have plenty of sponsorship opportunities available as well as individual seat tickets and if you are a Reading Buddy, you can come at a drastically reduced price.

I know that we would all agree with Sir Winston Churchill that “We make a life by what we give.” Please consider attending the luncheon or making a donation.

See you there!!!

Deborah Valdez, Executive Director