tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post1511919784576392884..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: Flashback 1992: The Literacy Effort that Could; Persistence Pays Off in Pilsen as Kraft Grant Boosts ProgramNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-12597137219976101332020-12-15T16:57:01.242-06:002020-12-15T16:57:01.242-06:00The number of worthy charities is almost infinite....The number of worthy charities is almost infinite. Our family, thanks to our son’s suggestion, no longer sends gifts. Instead, we exchange a list of charities to which we gravitate and then make donations in their names. <br />The hard part is picking them. There is so much need in this world. <br />Timeless article Neil. Leshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16679840606511726447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-9206026847302322772020-12-15T08:56:53.677-06:002020-12-15T08:56:53.677-06:00One of the best corporate charities IMO is the Ron...One of the best corporate charities IMO is the Ronald McDonald Houses. These are a kind of inn, built near hospitals, so that parents of chronically sick or injured children will have a place to stay to be near their child without paying crippling hotel or motel fees.<br /><br />My mother had an experience with that charity. McDonald's was building a Ronald McDonald House near Loyola Hospital, which is very close to my childhood home. Mom at the time taught a quilting class, and she set her class to work making wall hangings to decorate the rooms. She had the hangings professionally framed and gave them to McDonald's.<br /><br />Problem was, there were three or four fewer hangings than there were rooms. Mom just kind of shrugged and said, they'll have to buy art prints or something for those rooms.<br /><br />But then a summons came from the wife of the then-CEO of McDonald's Corp., a Mrs. Quinlan. Mom came to the corporate headquarters of McDonald's (in Oak Brook) to meet this lady, who told her that the house absolutely <i>had</i> to have those last few wall hangings. Mom protested that she was about to start another class and there was no time, but Mrs. Quinlan insisted. Bottom line was, Mom ended up doing the last few wall hangings herself. She had to cancel the next class to do so, and McDonald's paid her for the lost revenue.<br /><br />Talk about sweating the details.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-57183543973256381462020-12-15T08:28:54.732-06:002020-12-15T08:28:54.732-06:00Just reading the little notice in Spanish above wa...Just reading the little notice in Spanish above was an indication to me as to how hard it is to learn a foreign language as an adult. Before I read the article itself, "Primer Grado" at the bottom of the notice jumped out at me: for first graders obviously. Then I spotted "nocturnas;" don't need much Spanish to recognize night. So this was about night time stories, perhaps noir themes to change languages a bit. But then I recognized that "nocturnas" was modifying "clases." Ah, night classes -- for first graders? That's odd. Finally, I saw the "para trabajadores." So, after several minutes of looking this notice over, I figured out that it was about night classes for workers, adults obviously. If it's hard for me, someone who in high school was exposed to Latin and Greek, has taken several Spanish classes, including one treating Spanish poets such as Pablo Neruda, and has a passing acquaintance with other languages, it must be nigh on impossible for immigrants stuck in low paying jobs requiring just enough knowledge of English to facilitate their ability to perform the jobs. It's wonderful that Kraft was able to help some of these people acquire proficiency in and knowledge of our wonderful English language, even if it was only for the sake of making the world a better place for their customers.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.com