Handbags for Hope celebrates literacy, honors committed learners

The Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati will host its third Handbags for Hope event Thursday, January 30 to celebrate literacy and those who help the organization achieve its mission of providing hope to the more than 280,000 individuals in Cincinnati labeled as functionally illiterate.
 
Designer handbags and vacations will be auctioned off throughout the evening, but the highlight of the event will be the presentation of the 2014 Hope Award.
 
The past two recipients were adult students who demonstrated determination and earnestness for learning to improve their abilities to read. 
 
Mary, the first Hope Award recipient, was a volunteer crossing guard at her local school district, who was later offered an office position at the school upon completing classes at the Literacy Network and receiving her GED. Herman, a man in his sixties who was the 2013 Hope Award recipient, decided it’s never too late to learn to read.
 
“His life goal was always to be able to teach the Bible to his 15 grandkids,” says Kim McDermott, director of communications at the Literacy Network. “So he slowly began to learn how to read, and it’s always a fighting battle for people who struggle with symptoms of dyslexia, but he’s gotten so much better.”
 
This year’s recipient will be the family of an individual who is a student in the Children’s Basic Reading Program.
 
“That program works with students who struggle with symptoms of dyslexia, who usually would have to go to Children’s Hospital to be diagnosed and pay high prices for special education classes,” McDermott says. “But we’re able to screen them—not diagnose them—to see what level of reading they’re at and if the classes might help them.”
 
The recipients will accept their award at the event, where they’ll share the impact literacy has had on their family.
 
“You really don’t know what these people struggle with until they stand up and tell their own story,” McDermott says. “It’s touching and becomes so real.” 

Do Good:

• Call the LNGC at (513) 621-READ to purchase a Handbags for Hope ticket. 

• Volunteer with the LNGC.

• Support the LNGC by donating.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.