Dr. Nye Clinton (left) receives check from Rotarian Randy Lucas as Director Peggy Melton looks on

December 11, , 2007

Continuing a tradition of support for adult literacy, Putnam Rotarians have provided initial funding for translation computers and software to the Literacy Volunteers of Putnam County.

A check for $2,000 was presented to Literacy Board President Dr. Nye Clinton this evening at the organization's Christmas meeting by Rotarian Randy Lucas.

Adult literacy is a prioirty for Rotary District 7550 which includes 33 local clubs in southern West Virginia, and an initial gift of $1,000 by the local club will be matched by $1,000 as a district project. Lucas, a member of the local club, has served as Assistant District Governor.

Literacy Director Peggy Melton said that the gift would go toward purchase of ten portable computers and translation software for multiple languages.

For a growing number of Putnam residents, English is not their native language. Last year the Literacy Volunteers organization served as many as sixteen ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) clients in its tutorial programs.

The new equipment and software will enable rapid translation between English and other languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Russian.