YELL TURNS FROM ANNUAL STREET SALES TO SPONSORSHIPS

For the past 10 years, about 300 volunteers have flooded the streets of Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City, Mo., one day each September to sell newspapers in the name of literacy.

That chapter has ended.

Dwindling donations and resident complaints have led to YELL Day being discontinued, leaving members of the YELL Foundation scrambling to raise enough money to get newspapers in the classrooms by the time school starts.

"It was almost like people were refusing to support a very important program," said the Rev. Sam Roethemeyer, chairman of the foundation board. "Literacy is so important, yet there were people who said, I don't want the paper.' It almost looked like, Yes, we want to help literacy, but don't bother me about it.'"

YELL, which stands for Youth, Education, Literacy, Learning, is an extension of the Newspapers in Education program administered by the Area Wide United Way and the Southeast Missourian. YELL Day generated between $28,000 and $35,000 each year. About $100,000 of the total amount over the years has gone toward literacy grants to schools.

But that amount had significantly decreased in recent years, and people had begun to complain about the intrusion.

"It was like this shiny penny that had gone dull," said Mark Kneer, the Southeast Missourian circulation director who oversaw the newspaper distribution and volunteers. "People were just driving us by. They just weren't into it like they used to be. For the first time, I was hearing from the volunteers that it wasn't fun anymore."

With its only real source of funding gone, the foundation has been seeking sponsorships from area businesses and other groups to pay for the more than 100,000 newspapers that go to area schools each year as well as literacy grants and reading-readiness programs. To date, however, only 60 of the total 100 sponsorships have been sold.

Janice Friedrich, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, has been selling sponsorships since the end of May.

Short of sponsors

"Some businesses have been very receptive and supportive, but we're still short," Friedrich said. "I realize if we don't get the additional 40 sponsorships, some classrooms won't get the newspapers."

Friedrich said newspapers are a powerful learning tool.

"Students learn current events, local events, and we use it for creative writing," Friedrich said. "And some kids use the papers a lot just for reading when they are given quiet time."

Friedrich said a business owner can sponsor a particular class such as the one his or her child attends. They will also get a 3-by-10-inch advertisement congratulating them on the sponsorship, Friedrich said. She pointed out that donations are tax-deductible.

Time running out

With schools starting by the end of August, time is running out, Friedrich said.

"The worst-case scenario if we don't sell the 100 sponsorships, then there will be students who don't get newspapers," she said. "A lot of teachers would hate to see that happen."

Each sponsorship costs $275.

Roethemeyer, the pastor of Immanuel United Church of Christ and president of the Jackson Ministerial Alliance, said donations and excitement about YELL Day may have died down because people don't realize how great the need is.

"I don't think they realize how much illiteracy there is in our community," he said. "And it's not like this money is going to people all over the state. We're talking about Cape Girardeau, Jackson and surrounding communities that we can touch."

For YELL, the situation has grown serious, Roethemeyer said.

"If it's going to get harder and harder, I think we have to take a good look and see if the YELL Foundation is really going to continue on," he said. "I think it's critical, and only the community can respond. If we don't, then as a community, we're saying literacy is not important to us."

For more information on sponsoring a YELL classroom, call Friedrich at 335-3518.