Dearborn Rotary Seeks Shares & Cares Sponsors

The Rotary Club of Dearborn is seeking table sponsors for its Shares & Cares breakfast fund-raiser on Friday, April 1 at the in Dearborn.  Proceeds from the event will benefit the adult literacy programs of Pro-Literacy Detroit.

It is estimated that 47 percent of metro Detroiters are unable to read and that 44 percent of Michigan adults are unable to read above the fourth-grade level.

During the past 25 years, Pro-Literacy Detroit has tutored more than 12,000 adult learners and trained over 8,000 tutors to help metro Detroiters over the age of 16 to read. Pro-Literacy Detroit is Michigan’s largest literacy agency and all services are offered at no cost to the learner.

The Shares & Cares breakfast fund-raiser aims to support Pro-Literacy Detroit's mission–one that is dear to the hearts of Dearborn Rotarians. A number of Rotarians have also completed Pro-Literacy Detroit’s training and certification to become tutors.

“We are extremely grateful to Rotary for supporting our adult tutoring programs to help people overcome the tremendous handicap of illiteracy that binds them to poverty and unemployment,” said Margaret Williamson, executive director and CEO of Pro-Literacy Detroit.

Williamson is also a member of the Rotary Club of Detroit, which celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2010.

Dearborn Rotarians hope to bring in sponsors who will purchase a table for 10 at the event and fill the seats with friends and colleagues. Beyond just the funds raised by the breakfast, the club hopes to inspire others to support literacy programs.

“Once attendees hear the amazing stories of tutors and adult learners, we feel certain they’ll want to contribute toward these efforts," said Margaret Blohm, Dearborn Rotary Club president.

The Shares & Cares breakfast will include an overview of Pro-Literacy Detroit’s programs, remarks from the organization’s adult learners and a testimonial from Tutor of the Year Harry Powell, who is a retired General Motors executive.

Barnes & Noble of Fairlane Green in Allen Park is donating leather-bound book centerpieces for the event and will hold a book fair on April 1 to benefit Pro-Literacy Detroit.

Matt Roush of WWJ Newsradio 950 and editor of the Great Lakes IT Report will emcee the event.

The cost to become a table sponsor is $100, which covers the cost of breakfast for the sponsor and nine guests. The event will run from 7:30-9 a.m. April 1.

For more details about becoming a sponsor or attending the event, please email event chair Amy Bazzy at ajbazzy@comcast.net or call 313-433-0013.

The Rotary Club of Dearborn is one of 50 clubs in Rotary District 6400, which includes Wayne, Monroe and Lenawee counties in Michigan and Essex County in Ontario. Dearborn Rotary meets weekly at The Fairlane Club in Dearborn. For additional information, visit www.dearbornrotary.org, or call 313-278-7233.