LIMA, OH (WLIO) - People came out to play word games to help promote adult literacy.
The Northwest Ohio Literacy Council held their 17th annual Scrabble FUNdraiser on Saturday afternoon. For a donation, people could compete in teams to make as many words as they could for a prize, as well as enter raffles. This is the council's largest fundraiser of the year, with corporate sponsors also contributing to the cause.
Their office only has four staff members and relies on volunteers to help adults in our area learn to read. A lack of literacy can be generational, so when a parent can't read, their children are often at risk of becoming illiterate adults as well.
"It's kind of an overlooked issue in not only our community but across the country. In all actuality, one in six adults read at a third-grade level or below. It's, as you can imagine, extremely detrimental to the adult," said Kenneth Blanchard, the Executive Director of the Northwest Ohio Literacy Council.
Blanchard adds that many more students who were struggling in high school during the pandemic didn't get the extra help they needed, and now lack reading skills as adults.
