YELL CAMPAIGN RAISES $38,000

The sun wasn't up and traffic signals were still flashing yellow when members of the Scott City High School Student Council began selling YELL newspapers Tuesday.

Three hundred volunteers in Scott City, Chaffee, Cape Girardeau and Jackson "hawked" special YELL editions of the Southeast Missourian along busy intersections in their towns.

The volunteers raised $3,000 more than last year's total for the YELL project. Street sales alone raised $18,000, and almost all of the 10,000 newspapers had been sold within three hours. Combined street and advertising sales raised $38,000.

YELL is an acronym for Youth Education Literacy and Learning and is a joint project of the Southeast Missourian and Area Wide United Way. It is the sixth year for the project.

The YELL proceeds will be split between the Newspapers In Education program sponsored by the Southeast Missourian and literacy grants funded through the United Way.

"It's for community service and to help the kids," said Tisha Bailey, a senior. All proceeds from the Scott City sales help literacy programs in the community.

Each community benefits from the street sales in their city.

Most of the 17 members of the Scott City Student Council didn't realize until late Monday afternoon that they would be selling newspapers early the next morning. The group worked near the Interstate 55 ramps in Scott City.

Sales began at 6 a.m., although some student groups began a little later. Eighth-grade students at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Jackson hawked newspapers in front of their school building. They began at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Although they stood near an intersection, there was no stop sign or traffic signal, so making sales was a little difficult for the group.

"It's fun to yell at the cars," said Amanda Beussink, a student. About every fifth car stops to buy a newspaper, she said.

Newspaper sales increased as more students arrived at the school. Many parents bought the special newspapers. "They see familiar faces," said Lianna Lehnert, a teacher.

YELL volunteers hawked the papers at almost every major intersection in Cape Girardeau, Scott City and Jackson. "I was stopped six times on my way here," Lehnert said.

Many drivers who had already purchased a newspaper at another corner placed it on their dashboard to prevent confusion, she said.

With hawkers at every nearby corner, Schnucks' employees had a tough intersection to work.

The employee group, dressed in red T-shirts, works every year at Independence and Kingshighway.

"It's for the community involvement," said Jim Sturm. "It gives back to the community. It's a good program and we support it."

Most people also support the YELL program through their $2 donations. "When you approach them, they hardly pass it up," said Mary Lou Estes. "One woman came back because her children had been fighting over the comic book."