NORWICH – In June, Literacy Volunteers of Chenango County held its 14th annual Scrabble Fundraiser, and Director Joann Kishbaugh would like to extend thanks to sponsors and contributors.
“We had a lot of community support this year,” Kishbaugh said. “It’s a good way to promote what we do here as well.”
The event took place in SUNY Morrisville and involved 25 participants. Monies were raised through the registration fee, pledges from individuals and companies in the area, and sponsorship of teams. Teams either came to participate in the event or were added to a team upon arrival.
“The neat thing was the age ranges. We had people from eight to 95 years old,” Kishbaugh said. One table hosted the Golden family of which there were three generations present.
“I was happy with the turn out,” she said. “But we’re always looking to see how to increase for next year.”
All of the funds raised go straight to Literacy Volunteers to support programs and services.
Literacy Volunteers is an important asset in the community because it helps many youths and adults reach a functional literacy level.
“Many people don’t know, but as many as 14 percent of adults (in the county) are functionally illiterate,” she said. “They read at or below a fourth grade level. That can make every-day life skills very challenging.”
Adults that are functionally illiterate can be impacted in various aspects of their lives – struggling with financial literacy, math, reading to their children, taking medication, and even ordering off a menu.
“We do one-on-one confidential learner centered tutoring where individuals meet with a tutor at a designated place usually once a week,” Kishbaugh said. She explained that Literacy Volunteers also has a MP3 program, which involves a small class setting at Opportunities for Chenango where students at the pre-TASK level (formally known as GRE) are taught by an instructor.
“We’re looking to increase their scores so they can move on to other programs and services in the county,” she said. Many students are referrals and are tutored in math and reading. Once the students reach a certain score level they can move on to another program such as those in BOCES or CDO Workforce.
Literacy Volunteers provides assistance to adults of all ages and backgrounds.
“We act as a bridge to help them get to their next step,” Kishbaugh said.
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2014 SCRABBLE RESULTS:
FIRST PLACE TEAMS
Beginners: Golden Girls II - Megan Golden & Jessica Golden
Intermediate: Golden Oldies - Jessie Golden & Doris Graves
Advanced: Sherburne United Church of Christ Women’s Fellowship - Susan Kmiec & Andrea Strom

SECOND PLACE TEAMS
Beginners: Wheels I - Debbie Cooke, Hillary Potter & Jessica Knowles
Intermediate: Johnson & Johnson - Audrey & Harold Johnson
Advanced: Wheels II - Donna Anderson & Barb Tallett

THIRD PLACE TEAMS
Beginners: Mind Your P’s & Q’s - Pat Aquilato & Lois Gould
Intermediate: Francine - Francine Bauer

OTHER AWARDS
Highest Overall Team Score: Golden Oldies with a score of 691
Youngest SCRABBLE Player: Jessica Golden, 8 years old
Youngest at Heart SCRABBLE Player Team: Audrey & Harold Johnson
Most Pledges Raised: Susan Kmiec

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
Community Bank, First Congregational Church/Greene, Golden Artists, NBT Bank,
St. Paul’s Catholic Church and United Church of Christ/Sherburne

Special Thanks to Our Contributors:
Birdnest Crafters, E. Kishbaugh Photography, Gilligan’s Island, Hummel’s Office Plus, Joe & Vinny’s Pizzeria, McNeil’s Jewelers, Northeast Classic Car Museum, Northern Eagle Beverages, Norwich Paperback Exchange, Peebles, Pires Flower Basket, Preferred Mutual, Price Chopper, Roma’s Pizzeria, Sherburne Big M, Skillin’s Jewelers, Staples, State Farm Insurance, Susan Kmiec, Thymely Treasures, Union College and Walmart
Special thanks also go to SUNY Morrisville College for hosting our event, to John Kishbaugh for his delicious chocolate chip cookies, to Matt Asma for being an amazing emcee for the event, to The Literacy Volunteers Advisory Board for their time and generous donation of prizes and to Jessie Golden for her gracious donation of copies of her novel “Searching for Kenna.”