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We are visiting workplaces and soon will mail letters to individual donors. If every donor gave just $5 more, we would be able to:

Provide safe and educational after-school programming for students who are currently on a wait list, OR

Fund another part-time staff member to support struggling families and connect them to local resources, OR

Provide an additional 20 area seniors with a hot meal 5 days a week for a whole year.


#GIVINGTUESDAY: 
Caught Up in the 
Season of Spending?

This #GivingTuesday, we're asking our community to give a special gift to area children who need a small hand-up. It's very hard for students to focus on learning when they are not dressed for cold weather, haven't eaten all weekend or need glasses or dental care. All gifts made under  this link will be designated to our Children's Funds in five public school districts. The fund is managed by a nurse or counselor at each school with input from faculty and staff. Please consider  making a contribution to help our students reach their full potential. The following story was provided by one of our Children's Fund Coordinators:

"Upon returning to school on a Monday, I was made aware of a local family that suffered a house fire over the weekend. This family was a blended family with 6 children in the home and 4 of them attended school in our district. They had lost everything and had nothing but the clothes on their backs. They received funding from the Red Cross that they used to pay rent on a neighboring home until they could secure permanent housing. Our school staff was very generous in donating household items and food for this family, but there were so many things that were lost and the need was great.   

Thanks to our Children's Fund we were able to purchase clothing for all 6 of the children in the family as well as school supplies for the school-aged children.  With this funding we were able to get the children back in school so that they could start returning to a normal routine, which helped to reduce their anxiety and stress."

Read more by Kristin Funderburk
 
Like to Read? Students K-6 Need Your Help!
There is nothing that compares to the look that comes over a child's face when 'the light bulb comes on.' Many of our devoted volunteers have seen that look of pure joy in the face of a beginning reader when all of the sounds and letters he has been practicing finally come together and  comprehension occurs. When a child realizes he or she is reading, the proud moment ranks up there with riding a bike on two wheels! This is a memorable moment for our students, which also brings a lot of joy to our Read to Succeed volunteers.

Read to Succeed and Read to Excel are literacy programs fostered by United Way of Southeast Missouri. Read to Succeed (R2S) has been serving students in kindergarten and 1st grade since it rolled out to all Cape Girardeau public elementary schools in 2012. Data indicate students who were involved in R2S when the program first launched have the highest reading proficiency of any K-6 cohort. All participants average a gain in reading proficiency of one and one-half years. These programs, like these students, depend on volunteers to be successful.
 
Read more by Emily Cabot
Thank you Corporate Investors!
 

   


United Way of Southeast Missouri
1417 D North Mount Auburn Road, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
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