Literacy Leadership Award fundraiser hits it out of the park
Houston Center for Literacy honoree Carlos Correa was unable to attend the 2017 Mayor’s Literacy Leadership Award Breakfast; regardless, Thursday morning’s fundraiser was a home run.
Correa, a short stop for the Astros, was recovering from the MLB team’s season-high seventh consecutive win against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
“The team wouldn’t release Carlos because it’s bad juju — they’re winning,” emcee Khambrel
Marshall told the record crowd gathered at the River Oaks Country Club. “They didn’t just win yesterday, they beat those Twins like they stole something.”
Former Mayor Kathy Whitmire established the organization under a different name back in 1984 to raise the level of adult literacy in Houston. This year, Mayor Sylvester
Turner had the honor of introducing a video in which the Puerto Ricanborn Correa explained the importance of learning English.
“I’m going to tell (Astros owner) Jim Crane that he could’ve brought them all in here together,” Turner quipped from the stage. A sign-language interpreter conveyed his message to deaf and hard of hearing breakfast attendees. “Carlos spent 10-12 hours per day jumping between practice and English language classes so he could do media interviews on his own.”
Laura Ward, whose nonprofit Houston Children’s Charity partnered with Correa to provide 2,000 beds for disadvantaged local youth in 2016 through the A Better Nights Sleep Program, accepted the award on his behalf. Correa’s parents were slated to appear in his place, but the young athlete forgot to call and remind them.
“Carlos’ parents would not have been able to speak, they’re not bilingual,” Ward said. “My husband, Dave Ward, tried to text them, but the language barrier got in the way.”
Houston Center for Literacy’s president and CEO Sheri Suarez Foreman shared that more than 142 languages are spoken in the Bayou City.
“There are a lot of Houstonians who speak English, who grew up in our city, who cannot read or write,” she said. “They cannot fill out job applications.”
Learner of the Year recipient John Cuadros, a hygiene and industrial safety engineer from Peru, spoke of earning his English as a Second Language Certificate through the Connect Community Learning Center in Bellaire.
Chairs Kim and Dan Tutcher raised more than $150,000 and released attendees with sweet treats from Sprinkles Cupcakes.