Karen talked about the pleasures of working with the cheerful and committed volunteers in her program. "I've never had a problem finding volunteers," she said. "One tutor told me that volunteering with the Write Soon Project is considered around town to be the 'in' thing to do!"

"Some people see volunteering in the education field as a valuable experience they can use on a resume or as a stepping stone to other things. But in general, people in this town really seem to view education as important."

The local Trade Fair, where Karen sets up a display to promote her program, is where she recruits most of her volunteers. Another important resource is the Welcome Wagon. Karen provides the Welcome Wagon Hostess with brochures about the Write Soon Project which are included in the newcomers' packet of information. The brochure describes the project and includes a volunteer tutor job description, offering suggestions for getting involved, either asa student or a tutor.

I asked Karen what had enticed her to apply for the position of literacy coordinator a year ago. "Barb Kallay was the first coordinator of this program," she explained, "and when Barb and her husband moved to town, I sold them their house! That was in 1985. Barb did a lot of public relations work to get things started and I remember reading a lot about the program in the paper and seeing Barb setting up displays at the mall. So I became interested because I knew Barb but also because I have always been interested in education. I almost went to Teacher's College in Moose Jaw many years ago."

Even without a teaching background, Karen's qualifications for the job were substantial: administrative and interpersonal skills gained from previous employment, extensive volunteer experience and a broad knowledge of the community. I wondered if Karen had felt many inadequacies when she first started her job. "I was pretty overwhelmed at first," she said, "and yes, I did feel inadequate at times. But I don't sit around and stew over things for long. If! don't know something and think I need to know about it, I immediately go about finding ways to help myself. I either read what I can or phone someone. Being able to ask questions is just something I've developed over the years."

Karen had only been coordinating the Write Soon Project for a year. I was impressed to see how well-established she was and to hear how well things were going. I asked her if there were any areas of her job that were not going well. I struck a nerve.

"Funding!" she said immediately. "We need more money to effectively administer our program. Whitecourt covers a large area and I don't feel the outlying areas are being very well-served. If someone from Onoway or Sangudo hears about the program and calls me, I go out there. But to serve the town and the County means we don't always live within our budget and then we have to start fund raising elsewhere. "

The main source of funding for the Write Soon Project comes from the Department of Advanced Education. Karen suggests that "funding should be looked at using the criteria of the length of time a program has been in operation, the size of the area the program serves, the number of students the program supports and the overall growth of the program."