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Wal-Mart Sponsors Literacy Day
Authors Asked to Appear at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club Stores on April 12th
April 12, 2003 is îWords Are Your Wheels" Literacy Day. This is a special day set aside by Wal-Mart and Samís Club to support literacy by having major writers make personal appearances in every Wal-Mart and Samís Club across the nation. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club are taking a lead in creating a more productive America by fighting illiteracy with the "Words Are Your Wheels" Literacy Program, community care at the grass roots level, and $9.9 million in literacy grants sent through local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.To make the Words Are Your Wheels Literacy Day a great success, Wal-Mart is seeking the involvement of friends in the entertainment industry, asking that major authors, song writers, and screenwriters become literacy support partners by committing to personal appearances in Wal-Mart or Sam's Club stores on Literacy Day. Info at www.literacyday.com/literacy/apply.jsp.
Why Literacy?
Illiteracy is a great problem of national concern:
* 50 million Americans cannot read or comprehend above the eighth grade level.
* Existing literacy programs reach less than 10% of these people
* The U.S. has a high dropout rate of 29% compared to 5% in Japan and 2% in Russia.
* The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that illiteracy costs businesses in the U.S. $225 billion a year.
* 60% of prison inmates are illiterate.
* Almost 50% of adults who receive welfare are illiterate.
* Almost 75% of those who are unemployed are illiterate.
* Children of unemployed parents are five times more likely to drop out of school.
* Almost nine out of 10 juvenile offenders are illiterate.
There is a Literacy Hotline Center to assist those seeking literacy help. The toll-free literacy hotline number is 1-800-929-4458.