by Katherine Mulder
Every Monday a basket of homemade Biscotti is delivered to Audio-Reader. One of the volunteers makes them. She has 34 different recipes.
“We’ve had all of them,” Peg Sampson, outreach coordinator at Audio-Reader, said. “The day Bev doesn’t bring Biscotti is the day the world comes to an end.”
Bev Wilson has been volunteering and baking for Audio-Reader for eight years and has no plans to stop. Audio-Reader, the free public service offered by KU that reads all forms of printed material for individuals in need across Kansas and western Missouri, is a place that is hard to leave. Sampson said that the average time a volunteer stays with an organization is seven years. The average amount of time the 350 volunteers have stayed with Audio-Reader is 20 years. Audio-Reader began 36 years ago in 1971.
“I plan to be at Audio-Reader as long as I can drive up the hill and speak,” said Marlyin Bradt, who has been a volunteer since Audio-Readers beginning.
Audio-Reader announced that in 2007 they have never had so many volunteers. Jennifer Nigro, the coordinator of volunteers, said that she has made that announcement at the end of each year for the past few years. The reason for this increase is not only because of the continued loyalty of returning volunteers but mostly because of a boost in new student volunteers. Fifty students volunteer at Audio-Reader. While Nigro is one of the first coordinators to recruit students she said that many students came to volunteer by word-of-mouth.
It isn’t only volunteers who have the long time ties to Audio-Reader. Diana Frederick, the development director, is leaving after 26 years of being at Audio-Reader to peruse other opportunities in service. Her last day is December 14. She said the decision to leave was difficult and talking about it makes her emotional. Frederick was the mastermind behind Audio-Readers sensory garden. As the first director of develpment she pioneered the Audio-Reader development committee. She led the first five years of For Your Eyes Only, which is Audio-Readers annual sale of music and electronics.
“Her impact has been immeasurable,” Sampson said.
Fredrick said she plans continue to be involved with Audio-Reader as a volunteer of the sensory garden. Interviews for Fredrick’s replacement are being held but Sampson said the position would be filled by the end of the year. Sampson said that filling the seven employee positions at Audio-Reader has never been a problem; it is a matter of finding the right people.
Audio-Reader’s longest employee Art Hadley said he has no idea how long he will stay but he understands why it is hard to leave. He said he takes his job as engineer of Audio-Reader day by day until he no longer finds it rewarding. He has been working at Audio-Reader for 30 years.
“I did Kansas City radio for over 20 years and it was crap,” Hadley said. “There’s no real benefit to it, it’s just mindless entertainment and this isn’t mindless entertainment here. We’re transmitting real information.”
Audio-Readers staff of seven oversees 350 volunteers which reach approximately 5,000 registered clients all within a budget of about a $500,000. Most of the funding comes from two major mail campaigns called HEA-R (help expand Audio-Reader) and the Lions Club. Audio-Reader reads over 66 newspapers and has over 48 programs, which range from book readings to celebrity gossip.
Audio-Reader is the second program in the United States to offer this service. Audio-Reader is part of IAAIS which is a group which supports over 100 organizations like Audio-Reader world wide.
Audio-Reader was started by Marlyin Bradt’s longtime friend “Petey” Cerf. Bradt said her friend started Audio-Reader because she wanted to fill the enormous need of the community. Bradt said she has loved seeing how far Audio-Reader has come. She said she thought her friend would be equally impressed.
“She would be delighted” Bradt said.