YELL: VOLUNTEERS SUPPORT GOOD CAUSE AND HOPE OTHERS DO

By definition, volunteerism expending time and effort without monetary compensation involves sacrifice.

Most volunteers work long and hard with no more than a simple "thank-you" for a reward. That and the satisfaction that comes from aiding a worthy cause.

But YELL for Newspapers volunteers, who hawk newspapers to raise money to fight illiteracy in Cape Girardeau, attain another benefit: It's a lot of fun.

"It's really a fun event," said Mary Shepard of the Gibson Recovery Center. "There's a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of camaraderie among the volunteers because they're working for a common cause."

Shepard, like many of the volunteers who sold newspapers at last year's YELL for Newspapers event, was quick to join the effort this year.

"It's a community event where we all pull together," she said. "I think it's an event that doesn't take a lot of time, and you meet a lot of other people. It's definitely a fun event."

On Tuesday, 200 to 300 volunteers will sell newspapers to motorists. Money generated by the one-day event will go to the Southeast Missourian's Newspapers in Education (NIE) program and to the Area Wide United Way's special literacy fund.

Last year's inaugural event raised more than $13,000.

Through the NIE program, the Southeast Missourian each day delivers about 2,900 newspapers free to 60 area schools. Teachers use the newspapers in classrooms to study such topics as current events, economics, mathematics and art.

Last year, 7,000 YELL edition newspapers were printed and quickly sold out. This year, 10,000 editions will be printed and sold in Cape Girardeau and Scott City.

The newspapers will be on the streets before 6:30 a.m., and a special YELL edition of the Cash-Book Journal will be sold by volunteers in Jackson, beginning at 7 a.m.

"I think it's downright bloody awful to have to get up at 5 in the morning to do this," quipped volunteer Jerry McClanahan.

He and the Cape West Rotary Club will again be selling papers at the corner of Mount Auburn Road and Route K.

"It's something to do that's good for the community, and it's fun," McClanahan said. "We just have a good time with a bunch of guys you don't always get to spend a lot of time with.

"With the Rotary, you sit down and eat, but you won't see 50 percent of the guys that are there. Here, you're on the corner with them, and the camaraderie is great for a couple hours."

Dave Kaempfer volunteers with a group representing Vision 2000, which after last year's event reserved through the year 2000 their spot on the corner of Broadway and West End Boulevard.

"We think it's an excellent thing, and Vision 2000 endorsed it right from the beginning," Kaempfer said. "We had a ball there last year.

"Our biggest problem last year was that we ran out of papers. In a period of about 30 minutes, we ran out of papers three times. The demand at that corner is really good."

Laurel Adkisson last year hawked papers with Cape Girardeau's Zonta Club at the corner of Bloomfield Road and Kingshighway. This year she'll work with co-workers from Commerce Bank at the corner of Mount Auburn and Independence.

"We had a great time last year," she said. "Zonta overwhelmingly wanted to do it again because everybody enjoyed it so much, and it's a great way to help the community.

"It's a really good time. I'm not a morning person, so last year I didn't think I'd ever make it getting up that early.

"But once you get there, they do such a good job of publicizing the event and what it's for that it's a real easy sell."

Shepard said that most motorists last year had prior knowledge of the event and were very receptive to it.

"Most of the people we sold to were really excited about buying it," she said. "It's a product they wanted, plus it's a really good cause.

"A lot of good `PR' goes into it, and people really seemed to know last year what it was for. That's really been the case this year to. I think people are going to recognize YELL day this year."

Shepard said the United Way is a faithful supporter of the Gibson Center in its work with alcohol and drug rehabilitation. She said that by helping United Way's illiteracy programs, citizens indirectly benefit the entire community.

"I really believe that the community has to join together for these different causes," Shepard said. "The kinds of things United Way helps with are community-wide problems."

"They're our citizens; it's our community. With an event like this, you can really see a cohesive effort to benefit the entire community."

She said most of the volunteers are very cheerful, despite the early hour of the event.

"This doesn't last very long, so there has to be a lot of enthusiasm," she added. "The good thing is it's done and you see the results quickly."