Greetings,
I hope you and your family are staying safe and strong during this unconventional time.
This has been a very uncertain time for all of us. With the development of the COVID-19, LCNV canceled all in-person meetings and classes, and our staff and students are together exploring new boundaries of working and learning from home. Moreover, our learners, more than 80% of whom already struggle with poverty, are greatly impacted- Many of them rely on hourly wages, tips, and extra shifts to supplement their income, but these jobs are now disappearing literally overnight. Many of them have also lost the childcare and meals they rely on the school system to provide. I know I speak for all of us at LCNV, we are worried about the health and welfare of our learners and their families at this time.
However, the current situation has stirred dedication, devotion, and resilience from our staff, volunteers, and especially students. Although we had to close our buildings, we are working tirelessly to open our doors virtually. On March 27th, we transformed our annual fundraising breakfast, A Taste of Literacy, into our first virtual event, where guests learned about our work and explored stories from our students and teachers via eblasts and links to webpages at their own pace. Thanks to your support, the event was a huge success- we not only raised a total of $26,464 from 155 donors- surpassing our goal, but we also raised awareness about adult literacy for more than 1,500 individuals who visited our website that day. Moreover, we have received overwhelming response from instructors who tell us they are eager to help our students. Through the joint efforts of the instructors and our staff, we have been able to extend our current semester from April 23 to June 30 at no additional cost, and provide students with learning options such as computer-assisted instruction, video-conferencing, cell phone apps, and one-to-one conversations with a learning coach.
These times represent a unique opportunity for LCNV to further its vision of a community empowered with the ability to speak, read, write, and understand English. I am truly moved by our dedicated and caring community, who are determined to continue supporting English education to those whose futures truly depend on it. Thank you for sharing your strength with us through these unusual days. We will all be stronger for it.
Best,
Roopal Mehta Saran,
Executive Director