64. Rebroadcast: Shauna Brown with 'Project Read' and Changing Lives Through Literacy

Shauna Brown has been with Project Read for over 20 years…she started out as a volunteer herself, and is now the Executive Director. Project Read is an adult literacy program where they help individuals gain the skills they need in reading, writing, math, and even digital skills. One thing I especially love about this episode is all the great stories Shauna shares. She really gives a good picture of the work they’re doing through these stories and experiences she had herself as a tutor, and now also the success and good experiences other volunteers and students are having with their program. 

I mention in this episode, I especially had a real interest in this interview because I myself volunteered as a tutor with Project Read many years ago when I was a college student. That opportunity impacted me in so many ways and definitely instilled my love of volunteering in the community and seeing the good effects it can have on everyone involved.

This episode originally dropped on August 22, 2023 and I’m excited to share it again so more people can learn about all the good things Project Read is doing.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Project Read Website
Project Read Instagram
Project Read Facebook

ProLiteracy
National Literacy Directory

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Do Something More YouTube

Transcript

Melissa: Shawna Brown has been with Project Reed for over 20 years. She started out as a volunteer herself and is now the executive director. Project Reed is an adult literacy program where they help individuals gain the skills they need in reading, writing, math, and even digital skills. One thing I especially love about this episode is all the great stories Shauna shares. She really gives a good picture of the work they're doing through these stories and experiences. She had herself as a tutor and now also the success and good experiences other volunteers and students are having with their program. I also mentioned in this episode, I especially had a real interest in this interview because I myself volunteered as a tutor with Project Reed many years ago when I was a college student. That opportunity impacted me in so many ways and definitely instilled my love of volunteering in the community and seeing the good effects it can have on everyone involved. This episode originally dropped on August 22, 2023, and I'm excited to share it again so more people can learn about all the good things project Reed is doing. Welcome to the Do Something more podcast, a service oriented show where we highlight the helpers who inspire us all to do something more. I'm your host, Melissa Draper. Thank you so much for being here. All right, welcome to another episode of the podcast. And this one I was actually really looking forward to highlighting an organization in Provo, Utah, called Project Reid. And many years ago, about 20 years ago, I was a volunteer with Project Reed. So that's why I think this interview is a little near and dear to my heart. And I'm excited to hear about where they are now and the good things they are doing. But first, I would like to welcome to the show my guest, shauna Brown. Shauna, welcome to the show.

Shauna: Well, thank you so much for having me, Melissa.

Melissa: Yeah, it's wonderful to have you here, and I'd just love to have you start out by introducing yourself a little bit.

Shauna: Sure. I'm Shauna Brown, and as she mentioned, I'm the executive director at Project read, and I have been with the organization since I started, actually as a volunteer tutor as well, back in 2000. So did that and then started training for them and then became the executive director. And I just, I love what, I love what I do here. I love what we get to do. I love the opportunities that we have. And when I very first got involved, I was so excited to help someone learn how to read, and I didn't realize that the life that would change the most was probably my own.

Melissa: Yeah, that's great. I love that you got your beginnings there as a volunteer as well, you never know where those opportunities can take you, right. So. Well, wonderful. Well, I, let. Tell us a little bit now about Project read. What is its purpose and mission? Exactly what are some of the things that it hopes to fulfill?

Shauna: So Project Reed is an adult literacy program, and I think people are surprised to learn that we have almost 50,000 adults in Utah county and about 130,000 adults in Salt Lake county who can't read and write at the most basic level. So project Reed changes lives through literacy, and we empower individuals, strengthen families, build communities, and create new cycles of intergenerational literacy. And we just believe that every person has the right to the options and opportunities that literacy provides them. Because when literacy is achieved, doors are opened, opportunities gained, and eventually lives are changed. And so we provide instruction for adults in reading, writing, math, and digital skills. We feel like those are all just basic cornerstones, that once a person has those four things in place, they really are able to then take that learning and use it to achieve other learning. So, for example, they might come in and they're just reading and writing at a very, very basic level. We kind of, our goal is to get them to be at a high school level so that then they can go on. And if they want to go work towards a high school diploma or a GED, some of them actually already have high school diplomas or geds, and they might go straight into a post secondary or a training or certification program. They might go into a job training program. It just kind of depends on the individual. So we just really try to get their skills up until they're at a place where they're able to move on to the next goal that they have and that the literacy skills are not what's holding them back from, from that.

Melissa: That's great. Just removing some of those barriers. I think sometimes we do think of reading skills with education and work opportunities, but also really just functioning in everyday life or as a parent helping your children. All of those skills can be so beneficial.

Shauna: Exactly. I think you really hit the nail on the head there that reading is integral, especially in the United States of America in Utah. It is just wrapped up in everything we do. So, like you said, like, we think of literacy as we're reading and writing skills related to education. But try reading a recipe and cooking for your family if you don't know, or yourself if you, if you can't, you know, read and write or do some basic math fractions, that sort of thing, helping your kids in school. I am a foster parent. I have a lot of kids in and out of my home, and the volume of paper that comes home in their backpacks or via email is absolutely incredible. And I can't imagine not being able to go through that, sort through that and know quickly I need to pay attention to this. I can ignore that. That sort of thing or health literacy. My student, actually, I mentioned getting involved originally as a tutorial, and my student was a beautiful young mother of two little girls. They were age four and seven. And we would meet together and we would practice her literacy skills. And I can tell you the exact day that changed my life and really made me such an advocate for adult literacy was the day that she walked into our tutoring session and she had a medicine bottle and did not know how to dose her four year old correctly.

Melissa: Wow.

Shauna: And all of a sudden, I realized this could literally be a life or death situation if she were to do something incorrectly and not even know that she had done it. And so it really is just, I mean, think about driving on the road and not being able to read the street signs or just, I just think of all the places that I didn't recognize before I got involved in this program where literacy was involved.

Melissa: Right. Yeah. All the things we kind of take for granted.

Shauna: Yeah.

Melissa: That's been a part of our lives. And you mentioned the number of adults that need those services. How do they find out about your program and what are some of the common things that are affecting it so that they need the help with those literacy skills?

Shauna: Those are two really good questions. I'm actually going to answer them in reverse order.

Melissa: Okay, sounds great.

Shauna: The reasons that they come in are literally as varied as the students in my program. So we do serve students who, for whom English is not their native language, but they do have to speak English proficiently. So we're not trying to duplicate ESL services that are available. There are a lot really fantastic ESL programs in the area, and so we don't duplicate that service. So our students need to have pretty proficient listening comprehension skills and speaking skills. And so our focus is really on print based skills. So that's one thing. And so we do work with people from other countries. A lot of times they have come through an ESL program and then are ready to kind of work on those print based literacy skills. But then I have students who most, I would guess probably one of the most common themes for my native speakers is some sort of trauma in early life. It can look really, really different depending on the student, but some of them I mentioned being a foster parent, some of them come through the foster care system. And Maslow's hierarchy of deeds says that if your base needs aren't met, if you don't know where you're going to sleep tonight, if you don't know if you're going to have food on the table, you don't have the brain power to spend on things like learning how to read and write. So a lot of them have had some sort of early trauma, whether it was homelessness or, you know, being in foster care or some of them came through abusive situations. I had a student who, her father and brother had been in a horrible car accident when she was probably a preteen, and she got pulled out of school to help care for them so that her mom could go to work and take care of the family or just, just a lot of really varied situations. A lot of them come with or maybe have, like, a learning disability. If they're in their fifties now and they were going through the education system 40 plus years ago, they weren't necessarily catching things like dyslexia or different learning or reading disabilities. And so some of them come with some learning disabilities that have never been diagnosed or maybe they were but not treated or different things. So they might come with some of those issues as well. And they just want help and they're here and they want to learn and they want to improve their lives.

Melissa: Right. That's great. Well, do you, you've already kind of shared some examples, but do you have any specific stories of some of the students that you've been able to help that kind of show the good things that Project Reid is doing or the success that it's having?

Shauna: Oh, absolutely. I'm going to share my student story first because it's dear and dear to my heart and I also have permission. Well, I will only share stories that I have permission to share. But my sweet student, like I mentioned, young single mom, she had two little girls, and she was just trying to provide for her family. She didn't want to be on public assistance. She didn't want to be getting help. She wanted to take care of them and knew that literacy skills were kind of holding her back. So we worked together twice a week for an hour and a half each time and just taught some of those basic reading and writing skills that she needed. At the time, the program was solely focused on reading and writing. Just in the past couple of years, we've actually added the math program and then the digital skills program kind of post Covid 2020 that, that need for digital skills was really, really highlighted. So we added kind of our digital skills program to address that need as well. But she wanted to take care of her family. She wanted to be able to provide for them. She wanted to be able not only to have gainful employment that would take care of them, but also be able to help them with their schoolwork and that sort of thing. Fast forward 23 years, and she actually ran her own very successful business here in Utah county for almost two decades and actually recently sold that business and retired. Both of her girls are now college graduates.

Melissa: Wow.

Shauna: They both served missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and her oldest daughter just had her fourth grandbaby. And I know that all four of those little grandbabies are going to know how to read and write because their grandmother thought that it was important.

Melissa: Wow, that's a great story. And just shows the power of teaching that one skill of literacy and what it can do to help lift someone and change not only their lives, but their children and those after them as well.

Shauna: Yeah. And I think that's one of the hard things sometimes about literacy, is that it does sometimes take a long time to see, like, that's a story because she was my student and I've kept in contact with her, that I can see kind of some of those end results that sometimes we don't get that opportunity to see for our students. They come in and they get the help that they need, and then they move on and go into the next thing. And if they happen to stop back by or something, we might see those long term results. But it's so amazing and powerful to see it come full circle. I just think that there's such power in that.

Melissa: Yes, definitely. And I think that might be true for really any good service or things that we do. Right. Sometimes we get to see the results of that, and sometimes we don't. But it doesn't take away at all from the good that we're doing and the impact we're having.

Shauna: Exactly.

Melissa: Well, are there any challenges that you've run into as you've gone through this organization or as you're creating these programs you mentioned, Covid, obviously was a big challenge for a lot of nonprofits, I think. But what are some of those, and how have you worked through them to find success?

Shauna: Good question. Well, I think I'll circle back to maybe an earlier question that you had that I neglected to answer about how we find our students, because I think that sometimes one of our biggest challenges as well, because they struggle with literacy and so I often joke, but I can't put up a big sign that says, can't read this. Please call me point. Advertising is not our most successful way to recruit students, and so we do a lot of networking and word of mouth. So we find that people who struggle with literacy often don't just struggle with literacy. So they're accessing other social service agencies in the area. They might be going to, for example, the Department of Workforce services because they are underemployed or unemployed, or they might be going to community action services in the food bank because they need help with rent assistance or a heat program or food or whatever that looks like they might be at the health department getting help from the WIC program, women, infants, and children. You know, so they access a lot of other services. And so we really try to network closely with other agencies that might be serving the population that we're trying to reach. And sometimes it's just a neighbor or a concerned family member. A few times, it's actually been a spouse who came in and said, you know, my husband or wife needs help with some reading skills, and can you help them? And, of course, we're. We're happy to do that. And so that's probably one of the other biggest barriers for us, is that literacy is not something that people talk about and that they're often really embarrassed about. And so helping them overcome that embarrassment and just really making sure that our staff and our volunteers are open and welcoming and trustworthy and that they know that this is a safe space where they can get their needs met, and it doesn't have to go any, for any further than the room that they're in at that time, if that's what they need. Yeah. So that's. That's one of our big challenges, is just finding students and letting them know that we're here and that it's a place where they can get that help. Another challenge, Covid, was obviously a big challenge for a lot of nonprofits. I think ours was an interesting challenge because everyone just said, oh, well, you can just teach online. And one, our students didn't have access to devices or Internet. And two, if they did, they often didn't know how to use them well enough to use them, like, for an education purpose. And a lot of them were our parents, and they were so focused on helping their kids with the struggles they were having with school and that sort of thing. But it really did that digital divide. And so that was kind of an impetus for us deciding that we wanted to add a digital skills program and really give access. And actually, anyone in the community can come and access our digital skills programming. And they don't have to be basic. They don't have to struggle with reading and writing or math or anything else. They can just come and get help with their digital skills, whether that's on a computer, a tablet, a phone. We laugh because sometimes their goals, like, if they come in for basic literacy help, it's often long term, right? We're helping them learn to read, write, and math, and that takes a little while, but if we're helping with digital skills, I had someone come in last week and they were like, I just need to know how to block this person on my phone. Or we had this cute group of women who were probably in their sixties, I think, and they just wanted to be able to shop online without their husband's help. I don't know if their husbands were really happy. Sometimes that's what we want. I want to buy a gift for my grandson and be able to send it to him without someone else having to help me or things like that. So digital skills. I had these other women in here the other day. I was teaching one of the digital skills labs, and they wanted to be able to look up information on the local farmers markets. They wanted to know locations and addresses and times it was available, you know, so those classes can be super varied just depending on the needs of the people who come in for them.

Melissa: Right.

Shauna: But, yeah, that was kind of a response to Covid, was to start providing those digital skills and make sure that the people had the skills that they needed to be successful in kind of a post Covid world where everything, if it was digital before, it is even more so now. And so just making sure that they had that access to that. And then, of course, we're a volunteer organization, so all of our tutors are volunteers. We host about 20 hours of lab every week right now, and we have volunteers who come and assist with teaching in our labs. So volunteers is always a big need of the organization. And then, of course, funding, you know, finding people who want to become an author of Change and make a difference in someone's life on an ongoing basis and just donate five or ten or 20 or $50 a month and help make sure that the organization keeps going into perpetuity.

Melissa: Right. And near the end of the show, we'll let you share some of the places people can find you. So if they're interested in helping your cause, that we'll make that available to them. But I love how you share that, that it's so true in our world today that those technology skills are just as necessary as the literacy skills that you were already assisting with. And I guess that could be one good thing that came out of COVID is it helped highlight that need for you to see and to fulfill it. Well, I just want to go back how you, one thing you mentioned with your tutors of the importance of providing that safe space, because many that struggle with literacy, it's something that they don't always want to openly admit. And so I love that idea. Is that something you incorporate in your training specifically as you have tutors and volunteers come in or how, how are you able to create that within your organization?

Shauna: Absolutely. That's a really great question. I think part of it is just the culture that we have created here at Project Rood. I think that's one of the things that I saw coming in as the executive director from being a volunteer tutor and being in that space with my student and seeing some of her needs directly, I think really highlighted for me what kind of organization that we wanted to be running. And so part of it is just the attitudes of the staff that we hire, and they are all just so everyone who comes in here, just wonderful people. We have really great people who are here, but I think, I think they feel it from day one. And then it's definitely part of our training and it's actually part of our, we have contracts that we have all of our volunteers sign. And part of that contract just includes maintaining the privacy of your student. And we specifically talk about, like, I hope our volunteers are talking about their experiences at project read and the great things that are happening here, but also respecting that privacy of their students. So not using names unless they have permission to do so, not posting about them on social media or different places without that permission. And so that they do know that if they choose to remain confidential, that we will respect that decision of theirs.

Melissa: Right? Yeah. There wasn't social media when I was doing it so many years ago, but I do remember that being receiving that instruction and wanting to be sensitive to those situations. But also I loving the experience of forming a real trusting relationship with someone else as a teacher and a mentor and then a friend as well.

Shauna: Yeah. And I think that's one of the beauty of the one on one tutoring opportunities because it is a lot more work than some of our other volunteer opportunities. It's twice a week, it's an hour and a half each time, and you're kind of in charge of creating the lesson plans and teaching that student, but, oh, my goodness, it is also absolutely the most rewarding. I'll share one more student story that I also have permission to share. This is dear friend of mine, Valerie, and she came in probably in 2004. She came and started our program. So it's been a while, but same thing. It's one of those full circle stories where she came in and I told her that she had to take an assessment. And she said, I just knew that that was a fancy word for a test. And I sat out of my car in the parking lot trying to decide if I was going to actually walk through the doors and come in and take a test. And then she said, I finally decided that this was a test that I actually wanted to fail, because if I failed, it meant that I could get the help that I needed. And I was like, well, it's not really a pass fail test. It just kind of tells me where you are so that I can help you get to that next place. But testing is one of the things that we do for our students because, like I said, it just kind of gives us that benchmark of, this is where we're starting, and this is where we want to help you get. And that helps me just gauge what materials are going to be the most appropriate and that sort of thing. So she came in and she tested, and she got just one of the most incredible tutors who I just love, and they worked together for several years. And at the time, she was working at Stouffer Nestle on the assembly line, and she said, I just. I thought that I would be doing that forever. But she weighed over 300 pounds, and she said, my. My back was starting to give out and my knees were starting to get about. And I just didn't know how health wise I could continue doing this job, but at the same time, I wasn't qualified to get any other job. And she went through the program, and actually one of her most amazing successes was that she lost 181 pounds.

Melissa: Oh, wow.

Shauna: Learned how to read food labels. That was one of the things that was really important for her to learn. And she learned how to read her food labels and lost 181 pounds and stopped having all of these health issues that were kind of related to some of those weight things. You know, the knee problems and the back problems went away. And so then she was able to get a job at the habitat for Humanity restore. And I laugh because I think she can calculate tile per square inch faster than some of the contractors that come. Like, she's gotten so good at it. And then just within the last couple of years, she's been able to purchase her own home for the first time. And just, you know, never thought that was possible. And so once again, it's just. It just affects every aspect of a person's life, from their employment to their health. And a lot of it's tied directly to their self esteem and what they think of themselves. And I watch students who walk in our door and their head is down, and they don't talk very much, if at all. You know, we're kind of pulling answers out of them as we're trying to ask them questions about their. And just, you know, what we can do to help them. And it's amazing. Even sometimes within just a few weeks, they start coming to classes and just setting in that really base foundation, but also just the incredible people around here giving them that sense that they can do it and that we see their potential. And all of a sudden, they can see that potential as well. And heads come up, and I have this one darling student, and I don't think she's ever stopped talking since that confidence built up when she first came in. She was just so quiet and shy and reserved and, wow, it's amazing what a difference self confidence can make in a person.

Melissa: Yeah, she's a person.

Shauna: Yeah. Really build that.

Melissa: Yeah. I love, it seems the overarching theme there is the domino effect that it can have to help someone with a skill like literacy, but I think also just the empowerment it gives them to conquer that one thing that's maybe been a barrier for them for a long time and how that can just help them feel the confidence to move on to any other challenges that they might be facing or that we're all facing. So I love that. It's amazing in these stories that you've told. Well, I would just like to end with one final question, because we do have some listeners who aren't local here in Utah is, and you've been with this organization for such a long time, do you have any advice or encouragement for anyone that wants to become more involved in supporting literacy in their own community or wants to help with some of those similar causes?

Shauna: Absolutely. I would say get involved. We are an affiliate of pro Literacy America, which is a national, kind of a coordinating council for adult literacy programs across the country, and there are affiliates in every state in the nation, and they also have international programming available as well. And so if it's something that people are interested in, they can just look up the national Literacy directory online and you can type in your zip code and what either services that you're looking for or services that you would like to get involved and help with. And it will. You can pick distance ranges, so you can say, I want to find a program within 5 miles of this zip code or 10 miles or 25 miles, and it will show you all of the programming that are available in that area and what kind of skills and services that they offer at that program.

Melissa: Great. That is wonderful advice because it is something that you can really, I think, find anywhere if you're interested in helping and volunteering.

Shauna: And I think people sometimes, I don't want to say pigeonhole, but they kind of think, I don't know anyone who can't read and write. And I think they might be really surprised because they are sometimes there. I live in a very suburban, middle class neighborhood in Utah county, and I had two neighbors within a three block radius who both struggled with literacy skills. And I think most of our neighbors had no idea. No idea. And one was a successful. He actually owned his own business, ran his own business. I just think you never know the things that people are struggling with, and they could be a neighbor or a friend or a co worker or whatever that looks like. I mean, I've had students come in and talk about turning down a promotion because of the additional paperwork required, and they were worried that it would highlight, I guess, their lack of literacy skills, you know, that all of a sudden that would come to the forefront sort of thing. So if it is you and it is something that you're struggling with, please know that there are people who would love to help and that you don't need to be embarrassed, because there are just. There are just so many reasons that you may not have those literacy skills. And so reach out and find a program or. Or even just go to a local library, because a lot of them are either connected to libraries or libraries can direct you in the right direction or a school district. In a education program, there are just a lot of options for you. And don't be afraid, because I think a lot of the programs are very similar to ours, and it's going to be a safe space and it's going to be a confidential space, and it will be a space where you can be empowered to make changes in your life.

Melissa: Yeah, that's great advice for. For both ends to not be afraid to get the help that you need and also to realize that you can be more help than you think is needed. So. Great. Well, shawna, this has been a great conversation. As I said, I loved my time at project read, but I love hearing now some of those good stories and the good things that you're doing. Would you like to just end by saying where people can find you to learn more about your organization or if they would like to donate or get involved in any way?

Shauna: Yes. So you can find us on online or we have a website. It is www.projectreadutah.org or you can call us at 801448 Read R E A D, which is 801-448-7323 we're also, our physical location is in the Provost City library in Utah county and we also have expanded and we now serve Salt Lake county and we have an office there. We teach classes at the South Salt Lake Community center in the co op, and we have some office space in the Granite Peaks Adult Education center up in Salt Lake. So lots of ways to get in touch with us and we would love to have you. And there are just, I just maybe want to end by highlighting that there are so many ways to get involved, whether it's referring someone who needs our services to coming in and volunteering. And that could be as a one on one tutor, which I kind of highlighted, but could also be maybe you want to get involved in just in our labs in a slightly different instructional capacity. Maybe you want to come in and we're running a business, nonprofits or businesses, so we always need office volunteers or people who can help with accounting or who have financial knowledge or human resources knowledge or marketing or, you know, like we can put to use. You know, maybe have a maybe. We talked about social media wasn't around 20 years ago, but maybe social media is your skill and you want to help us with some of our social media. You know, like, they're just so many opportunities. If you have a skill set, reach out and find a way that you could put that to good use. And maybe project Reit is not your passion. I would hate to think that that might be the case, but there are nonprofits all over that just need that. And then finally, if you don't have time right now, maybe you can make a financial contribution and help in that way because it definitely volunteers are fabulous, but it does take a team of employees to help this organization just keep moving forward.

Melissa: I love that. That was a perfect note to end on because I often share on this podcast that it's really just all about finding what your own gifts and talents are. And there's so many ways you can use them to help and bless the lives of others. So thank you so much, Shawna, and we really, really appreciated having you on the podcast today.

Shauna: Well, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate your time and just appreciate you reaching out and having us on today.

Melissa: That was my interview with Shawna Brown, the executive director of Project read. And one of the things that stuck out to me in that interview, that conversation, was the domino effect that can happen when you have someone and you're helping them with a new skill or to acquire those new things in their life. I love how she shared that, that when they have someone come in and they start to learn those literacy skills and start to improve and get better, the self confidence that they have, the empowerment that they feel being able to finally tackle this, and then that just again moves on to them being able to seek further education or to improve their employment situation, and then they also can pass on those skills and that newfound love of learning to their children and to their family. And I just loved hearing about that. It's so wonderful to hear the domino effect, to see how good things can follow good things. And they definitely are witnesses to that in their organization through the different tutoring and also digital literacy skills she mentioned and math skills. It's great to hear about how that is truly changing the lives of those that come through their doors. And I also wanted to share a little bit about my own personal experience. As I mentioned on the show, I volunteered with Project Reed while I was a college student about 20 years ago or so. I was there for a couple of years, and I was a tutorial to a student, and I loved preparing those lessons. I've always had a passion and love for reading myself, and I learned a lot about teaching. I hadn't had a lot of teaching experiences in my life at that point, so I enjoyed that experience as well. And most of all, I loved the friendship that I gained. The woman that I tutored was Chinese. She was from China, and I loved learning from her. She shared so much of her culture with me and where she was from and some of those experiences. I particularly remember one time she invited me to come celebrate Chinese New Year with her family, and so we made dumplings together from scratch. And she was a fabulous cookie, ate a lot of her good food, and wondered, where could I get real chinese food like this? Because it was good. She was really good with that. But I remember going there, making those dumplings and also watching a recording that they had been delayed, had gone earlier, obviously, because China was ahead of us in the time zone, and they now had this recording of a big tv program that everyone watches or would watch there on television to celebrate Chinese New Year. And they shared so many of the traditions of that holiday with me, and that was just one thing. There were so many things I learned from her and was really built up by that experience. I felt many times that my relationship with her, I gained so much more than I gave, and that's what good volunteering can do. Sometimes we think about when we're serving or wanting to spend time helping out an organization. We're kind of calculating, what can I give? What do I want to do? But I think it's important to remember that many times when it comes to service, we should be thinking about what we can gain as well. Because in that experience especially, I gained so much. I learned new things. I gained a friend, and I loved the experiences that I had, and obviously they helped shape me. And I still remember them today, 20 years later. So that's just a few thoughts on volunteering on my experience with Project Reed. Again, I will leave information in the show notes, so if you want to learn more about their organization or you are curious about how to volunteer or how to donate, I will leave that information. And I will also leave information. She mentioned the pro Literacy of America and national Literacy directory. I'll put those on there as well. For those of you that would like to maybe look for an opportunity to volunteer in that way in your community, wherever you might be. And I just want to leave the reminder that I hope this week you can find a way to do something more to lift, help, inspire, or make a difference.