Chip and the Bee

Guess who is in a spelling bee? That’s right, me.

Ever since Akeelah met that bee way back in 2006, I knew that a spelling
bee was in my future. Well, the future is now, or rather, this Saturday
at 4:00 at the Athens Tech Auditorium.

It is a fundraiser for the Athens-Clarke Literacy Council. I am on a
team of three (thank goodness) with Carrie Coker Bishop and her sister,
Cathy Rumfelt. Our team is called the Triplets and we have been in
intensive training and I am happy to say that I can now spell
“bourgeoisie”.

But what if we get a word that is NOT “bourgeoisie”? And what if that
word is, like, HARD TO SPELL???

This is where YOU can help.

At this team spelling bee, the six teams that raise the most money for
the Athens Clarke Literacy Council are granted a mulligan, which means
you can miss a word and still stay in the competition. So, we’re asking
for donations to support our team. Any amount you can afford will help
us, and it all goes to a great cause – promoting and supporting adult
literacy in Athens.

Your donations are tax-deductible if you make a check out to
Athens-Clarke Literacy Council and give it to me by Saturday (or later
if you are someone I trust).

Or you can donate RIGHT NOW by clicking this button:

For each $5 donation, you will be entered once into an Official Chip Raffle! If you donated $50, you would be entered 10 times, understand?

The winner of this raffle will be praised highly on this very blog, have customized poetry written for/about them, and will receive some sort of tangible item from the vast Chip warehouse. This is called a win-win, people!

Here’s a little bit more info about what the ACLC does:

In Athens, approximately 12,000 adults (more than one tenth of the
population) have reading and computation skills that fall at or below
the third-grade level. As Spectacle spellers, your participation will
contribute to the raising of much-needed funds for such local literacy
providers as the Athens Technical College Adult Learning Center,
Catholic Charities, the Presbyterian Hispanic Ministry Team, and Right
Start. Each day the teachers and tutors in these programs enable adults
to increase their basic reading and math skills, learn English as a
second language, or obtain a GED. With increasing financial pressures on
many of these programs, grants from the Literacy Council will be even
more important to assist with the purchase of books, classroom supplies,
and learning materials. We also provide training for new and volunteer
teachers and tutors in these extremely important programs.

Thanks a bunch. Come out and see us spell this Saturday ($5 at the door,
all to a good cause).

Chip