Anne Murr, coordinator of the Adult Literacy Center at Drake University, recently received a $1,000 grant from the Business Women’s Association (BWA) Foundation. This grant will be used to further support the Adult Literacy Center and its mission.
The BWA Foundation awards grants to organizations that will use the money to better the lives of women and children.
“Our grant will be used for scholarships for our students,” Murr says. “Since we now ask for the students to pay $50 a year and a lot of the students are low-income, they have a hard time paying the fee.”
The Adult Literacy Center improves the quality of adults’ lives by helping them learn to read, write, and comprehend. The Center has been part of the Drake University School of Education since 1976. Drake and Des Moines-area volunteers who are dedicated to literacy and community outreach staff the Center. The serve more than 100 students each year.
“When our students are able to read to their children and read notes they bring home from school, it shows children that they are role models,” Murr says. “Those parents want to make an impact on children through their own learning.”