Click on the link below to read our Winter 2011 newsletter.

Winter 2011 Newsletter (PDF)

What: A Gala Dinner and Auction to Benefit Literacy Volunteers on the Green

When: Friday, April 15, 2011
from 6:30-11:30PM

Where: Candlewood Inn, Brookfield, CT

For further information please call 860-355-0830

NEW MILFORD – (November 22, 2010) – Literacy Volunteers on the Green, the non-profit organization that teaches basic literacy and English as a second language to residents and newcomers to Northwest Connecticut, will hold its annual meeting at 10 am December 18 in the parish hall of St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The Board of Directors of LVG will review the past year’s activities and outline plans for 2011, including voting on the nomination of Arri Sendzimir as president to succeed Allan Priaulx, who is stepping down after his three-year term.

Ms. Sendzimir, a veteran executive in various for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, has worked in publishing and editing, engineering, international business, mental health, organizational management, and fundraising. She has been a member of a number of boards, including that of the Connecticut Community Foundation (CCF). She was first introduced to LVG in her capacity as a mentor for the CCF’s Nonprofit Assistance Initiative, when she advised the organization on its transition to 501(c)(3) status.  She is currently Director of Development for Neighborhood Music School, one of the country’s 10 largest community arts schools, with a budget of $4.3 million.

“I am delighted that Arri has agreed to lead LVG,” said Priaulx. “We have accomplished most of our goals during the past three years, recruiting great volunteers who have taught more than 400 people how to speak, read, and write English, installing a first-class board of directors, becoming certified as a non-profit by the IRS, plus forming relationships with a wonderful cadre of companies, organizations and individuals that assures us of financial stability going forward. Working with our co-founder Anne Maitland and our executive director Jacqui Farrell, Arri will take us to the next level.”

Literacy Volunteers on the Green is a non-profit organization comprising volunteer tutors who teach basic literacy skills and English as a second language free of charge to willing students in Litchfield County and northern Fairfield County.  Students acquire basic reading skills, learn to speak English, and receive an introduction to American culture, which helps many attain citizenship. The company has a 501[c]3 designation from the IRS.  LVG is a ProLiteracy America Volunteer Program Affiliate, a United Way Partner Agency, and a member of the Connecticut Literacy Alliance.

Click on the link below to read our Fall 2010 Newsletter.

Fall 2010 Newsletter (PDF)

Do you like to talk?

Are you looking for a short term tutor-student commitment?

We need conversation partners. This is a much less formal way to work with our students and doesn’t require training or a long term commitment. A brief tutorial and all materials will be provided to you. Please call the office, 860-355-0830, if you would like more information.

We are pleased to announce that LVG is working with the New Milford Public Library in order to provide easier access to materials for our tutors and students throughout Northern Fairfield and Litchfield counties. The library is in the process of entering some of our reference and resource materials into their computer system. LVG tutors throughout the area will then be able to request the materials through inter-library loan and have them delivered to their home libraries. All current LVG tutors will be e-mailed a list of available materials as soon as the library has completed the process.

Stop by the office to check out the following materials for use with ESL classes:

American Lives: Reading and Language Activities: Take an historical journey into the lives of famous and lesser-known
native-born and immigrant Americans who have shaped American history. Suitable for students working in Side by Side 1
and up.

Across the U.S.: State by State Reading and Language Activities: Provides intermediate ESL students with an opportunity
to learn about America

Please call (860-355-0830) or e-mail (info@lvg-ct.org) if you can help with the following:

Would you love to plan a party?  Casey Pascal and Jose De Aguiar are planning a student-tutor gathering in the fall.  If you can help with organization, set-up, clean-up, etc., we need you.

Do you have experience using Microsoft Publisher?  Jacqui needs your help with the lay-out of LVG’s newsletter and annual report.  You will be provided with the copy.

We will finally be able to easily track down our students and tutors! With 74 active tutors teaching 140 students; and classes occurring seven days a week, mornings, afternoons, and evenings in locations from Danbury to Salisbury, a database had become essential.

Through a grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation, we were able to obtain a database especially designed for a literacy volunteers organization.  It will include student and tutor demographics, assessment results and achievement of goals, class levels and locations, etc.

The grant also included money for a laser jet printer, refurbished computer, and fax machine.  It will take time to enter all of the data, but the system will be up and running by the end of August.

LVG’s Annual Fundraiser was held on April 30 at the Candlewood Inn.  Almost two hundred guests ate, danced, and bid their way to a successful evening for LVG, raising almost $25,000 to support the organization’s general operating expenses. Auction items included an afternoon of cruising on Candlewood Lake, romantic get-aways at area inns, Red Sox and Yankees memorabilia, the use of a country house for the week-end, theater tickets, dining out certificates, and airline tickets. Kudos to Anne Maitland and Carol McCarthy who were the chairs of the event. 

Please put April 15, 2011 on your calendar.  We guarantee that you will have a great time!

Right: Board member Margaret Wiener and student GJ Hernandez, both of Kent, announce auction winners while board member Sue McWhinnie looks on.