Editorial

YELL EDITION RAISES LITERACY FUND

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Today is another YELL day in the life of the greater Cape Girardeau area. YELL stands for Youth, Education, Literacy and Learning. This morning from 6 to 9 a.m., hundreds of volunteers are out on street corners hawking special YELL editions of the Southeast Missourian.

The requested purchase price of $2, together with any other proceeds generously donated above that amount, will be used to help fund the Southeast Missourian's aggressive effort to place newspapers in the classroom for use as teaching tools by students and teachers. In all the Newspaper In Education efforts nationwide, there probably isn't another campaign in any city or town that annually involves so many good people from such a broad cross-section of the community.

Included as special bonuses in this year's edition are this newspaper's recent series on methamphetamine, together with a special 12-page Mark McGwire commemorative section. These are in addition to the many special YELL articles on literacy and learning.

Since its inception, YELL has proved itself as a worthwhile community project and won state and national awards in the newspaper industry and from teachers groups. It is great to see so many public-spirited citizens getting involved with such a worthwhile cause.

This is the first year for a special YELL Foundation that has been set up to sustain the effort year in and year out. After seven years of a successful co-sponsorship by the Southeast Missourian and the United Way, the need was felt to achieve a stable, long-term foundation devoted exclusively to supporting YELL efforts.

When you see YELL volunteers hawking newspapers this morning in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Chaffee, Fruitland and Gordonville, pitch in and join the fun. It's great fun for a great cause.