PROGRAM TO PROMOTE LITERACY AWARENESS

Restaurant menus, job applications or memos and road signs.

These are just some of the things people read every day. Now imagine how difficult everyday activities could be if you were not able to read.

Illiteracy is a worldwide problem but is particularly prevalent in Southeast Missouri. And the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau has begun a special program to promote literacy awareness.

The international service organization promoted the benefits of reading through its first summer series called, "Literacy: Key to Discovery."

While Missouri has an 11 percent illiteracy rate, almost 50 percent of the area's population never earned a high school diploma. Cape Girardeau has a 12 percent illiteracy rate but is surrounded by an area with an illiteracy rate of at least 15 percent.

The Zonta organization, which was chartered in 1976, began its summer reading focus to bring attention to the problem, said Elizabeth Ader, co-chair of the group's literacy committee. The goal is to clarify the importance of reading.

With the help of storytellers and a children's author, the group made more than 100 children aware of the importance of reading, Ader said.

Illiteracy is not just a problem for children. "There are implications for businesses. It's very important to be able to read and write," she said.

Reading serves you throughout your life, she said, adding that illiterate adults often develop strategies so they don't reveal a problem.

To stress the importance of reading, the Zonta Club has planned a fund-raising fashion show on Sept. 18.

Zonta will participate in the United Nations Literacy Day on Sept. 8 to coincide with Literacy Awareness Week.

"You don't see results right away," Ader said. "It will take three to five years to see any real consequences of the program."

Although illiteracy can't be combated overnight, the group continues to plan programs and make the community "aware of reading the world around you," Ader said.