YELL HAWKERS TO HIT STREETS

On an average weekday morning, Cape Girardeau's streets are quiet except for the sound of motorists zooming to work.

They won't be on Tuesday.

Practically at the crack of dawn, area volunteers will station themselves with stacks of Southeast Missourian newspapers, shouting encouragement to potential buyers.

Not just any event could get judges, bankers, teachers and other professionals out of bed and on the streets so early. It takes YELL -- Youth, Education, Literacy and Learning -- to bring so many people from so many backgrounds together.

Established in 1991, YELL Day is a fund-raiser administered through the United Way that collects money for literacy programs only. Some of organizations benefiting from 1994 funding include the Spicer Memorial Tutoring Program, Cape Girardeau Public Library and Southeast Missourian Newspapers In Education.

Don Sherwood, a 44-year veteran of KFVS-TV, is this year's United Way-YELL Committee chairman. He has been involved with YELL since its beginning, and he wants to raise $15,000 through the project this year.

The special newspapers will be offered for a $2 donation, but Sherwood said he hopes people will be generous with their money. After all, it goes to help people young and old learn to read, and none goes to the United Way itself.

"The people who donate to YELL are donating to literacy," Sherwood said.

Mark Kneer, circulation director at the Southeast Missourian, was a part of YELL Day for the first time last year. He said there weren't many communities where so many people are willing to hawk newspapers on street corners, regardless of the weather.

"Rarely do we have the opportunity to pull the entire community together behind a project that will affect all of us in the future," Kneer said. "The volunteer spirit that gets it done is unmatched by anything I've ever seen."

It's the volunteer spirit, coupled with a desire to help people learn, that attracts many to YELL. Val Tuschhoff, a Jackson alderman, has helped coordinate YELL newspapers sales in Jackson since the beginning. This year she may sell newspapers or keep other salesmen stocked.

While Tuschhoff appreciates the fact that YELL funds help educate young people, she said no one should forget adults who struggle with reading skills.

"This is a much-needed program, one I really believe in," Tuschhoff said. "To me it is very important that children and adults learn to read."