We can do this!

Beth and I have donated a check for $1,000 directly to Washtenaw Literacy. We're asking our friends to help us DOUBLE that by donating toward another $1,000 on this page. Any amount you donate here will help us achieve that second $1,000. Our combined $2,000 will help change many lives with the gift of literacy. Thanks so much!!!

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Our story starts with Marty volunteering as an ESL tutor for eight years. Within that time, he acquired a core group of eight female Asian students -- Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese -- who became much more than "learners" that got together every week; these folks became our friends. Marty was determined to help his learners not only improve their English, but also to help them feel comfortable in our country through learning about our culture. Trips to the DIA, Motawi Tile, having lunches together after class, invitations to our home, meeting for ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy, even a trip to our Canadian cottage -- all helped to broaden their understanding of life here.

But the best experience of all came through Beth's love of cooking. Always eager to try new recipes, Beth worked out a deal with Marty's students; they would teach her how to cook some of their homelands' foods they most enjoyed, and she, in turn, would teach them how to cook an American Thanksgiving dinner, with all the trimmings -- turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry-jello salad, green beans, red cabbage, nut breads and more. Dessert? Pumpkin pie, of course! Three weeks before Thanksgiving, everyone gathered in Beth's kitchen; each student was assigned how to make one of the dinner items, followed by enjoying all that good food for lunch right after class. Then, on Thanksgiving itself, each student prepared her assigned dish at home, then brought it (and her family members) to Beth and Marty's home for a giant Thanksgiving potluck dinner. Wow! What good food and what a great time for all! Not only were these 20+ folks enjoying an American cultural event, but they were also learning about each others' cultures and becoming friends as we ate and talked. This first time was such a success that we repeated it for three successive years, ending only as most of these students returned to their homelands and Marty retired from tutoring ESL.

In the pics you see some of the learning process going on, and one pic of the whole group gathered around the main table. Even today, as we continue to correspond with these friends, we receive pictures from them each Thanksgiving as they make their one assigned dish to enjoy in a celebration in their own homes.

The eight years of teaching ESL and especially the friendships created with this Asian group were so very meaningful and rewarding for both of us. We have subsequently visited our Japanese and Korean friends in their countries, and we've had several visits from them here as some have traveled back to the U.S. for business or leisure. The bonds of friendship that were created through this ESL experience have remained intact and we are grateful to Washtenaw Literacy for having made that possible.