YELL NEWSPAPERS BEING HAWKED TODAY

Street corners in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City will be flooded with activity this morning when more than 100 YELL volunteers, dressed in aprons and waving flags, begin hawking newspapers to passers-by.

Special editions of the Southeast Missourian will be sold from 6-9 a.m. today as part of the YELL literacy project.

It is the sixth year for the Youth Education Literacy and Learning project.

The 32-page YELL newspaper includes stories about literacy programs in the area, comic books, coupons and contests.

The YELL edition helps raise about $20,000 for literacy programs in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City. A $2 donation per newspaper is suggested.

Chairman Frank Ellis said all the money raised in each of the three communities will sponsor literacy programs in those communities.

More than 10,000 copies of the YELL edition are expected to be sold. Proceeds from the sales will be split between Newspapers in Education and the Area Wide United Way, which offers grants to literacy programs.

Last year 12 agencies or programs received money through the United Way grants. The money is used to purchase literacy computer software, books and computers.

Some of the programs that received grants included the Edward J. Spicer Tutorial Program, "Ready to Read" at May Greene Elementary School and the "Reading Is Fundamental" program at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

The deadline for grant applications is Oct. 15.

The Newspapers in Education program is sponsored through the Southeast Missourian. It provides copies of the daily newspaper to classrooms at area schools. More than 300 area teachers use the newspaper to teach current events, reading and other skills.