
OCTCs SKILLTRAIN RECEIVES DOLLAR GENERAL GRANT
Last week the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded Owensboro Community amp; Technical Colleges (OCTC) SkillTrain division, which focuses on adult education, an $8,000 grant to support their Future U.S. Citizens adult English-language-learner (ELL) literacy project. This local grant award is part of over $7.1 million in grants awarded to more than 900 schools, nonprofits, and organizations across the 43 states that Dollar General serves.
OCTC SkillTrain has been offering ELL instruction to our immigrant and refugee neighbors for more than ten years. With the help of partner sites Bellevue Baptist Church, and Settle Memorial United Methodist Church, OCTC SkillTrain offers weekday classes for non-native English speakers at all levels of proficiency from pre-literate learners, who have never learned to read or write in their native languages, to advanced learners, who are eager to enter college-level classes. In addition to general ELL classes, OCTC SkillTrain also offers a Citizenship ESL class for those who are preparing for their naturalization exams. Funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation helps make this programming possible.
We are grateful for the investment the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is making in our community through this grant, says OCTC SkillTrain Director, Lindsey Kafer. For our refugee and immigrant neighbors, learning how to communicate in English is a very real, pressing need, for everything, from getting a job, to communicating with childrens teachers, to understanding, or asking questions about utility bills. We believe that equipping adults with needed literacy skills produces empowered community members, and we believe empowered community members create a strong community.
Consistent with our mission of Serving Others, we are excited to provide these organizations with funding to further literacy and education across the communities we call home, said Todd Vasos, Dollar Generals CEO. It is always so exciting to see the true and meaningful impact the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has on both children and adults looking to improve their lives through literacy.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $120 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 7.3 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education.
For more information about the opportunities this grant will provide, or the other services offered through the adult education division, please contact Lindsey Kafer at (270) 686-3781, or via e-mail at lindsey.kafer@kctcs.edu.
About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education as part of the companys mission of Serving Others for over 20 years. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $120 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 7.3 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education. For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and its grant programs, visit www.dgliteracy.org.
About Dollar General Corporation
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) has been delivering value to shoppers for over 75 years through its mission of Serving Others. Dollar General helps shoppers Save time. Save money. Every day! by offering products that are frequently used and replenished, such as food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, clothing for the family, housewares and seasonal items at low everyday prices in convenient neighborhood locations. Dollar General operates 12,483 stores in 43 states as of January 29, 2016. In addition to high quality private brands, Dollar General sells products from America's most-trusted manufacturers such as Clorox, Energizer, Procter amp; Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg's, General Mills, and PepsiCo. For more information on Dollar General, please visit www.dollargeneral.com.