By Molly Greaves

I love volunteering. I just got back from 3 hours of reading at the RFB&D where I enjoy spending some of my energy reading textbooks for blind students (today I learned how to direct readers and ran the recording technology).  Disabled folks can use our service too, including folks that cant turn the pages because of arthritis for example. Some students have been recently blinded and some were born blind. Either way, it’s very rewarding because of the impact on others. I’m going to join the Ambassador committee soon, so I thought I’d start by sharing some interesting facts with you about the program.

Where I volunteer, we serve Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Pretty fun territory for a gal from Vermont to think about. Wonder what listeners think of my accent?

* In Texas alone, we have over 16,000 borrowers that have benefit from our services.  Nationally, Recording For The Blind & Dyslexic provides over 185,000 people with print disabilities the books they need to learn and succeed. 

* Currently over 700 Texas schools and districts are members of our service.

* Borrowers range from kindergarten-graduate students and continuing education. We have even helped a blind woman graduate successfully from acupuncture school!

*  We have a studio that has 7 recording booths. Everyone gets to direct!

* Johns Hopkins University evaluated the effectiveness of RFB & D’s (reading for blind and dyslexic) recorded textbooks, and found a 38% increase in content acquisition reading scores.

* Their goal (and mine too, which is why I volunteer here) is for all people to have access to the printed world. 

www.rfbd.org

And if you’re in Texas, they’re just right up the street off of Lamar and 45th!

Economic Week in Review: Consumers grow gloomier
————————————————

This week’s economic reports showed little signs of relief as the
consumer confidence index fell even lower than expected. Consumers
continue to be concerned over rising unemployment rates, historically
high gas prices, and the housing slump. On a brighter note, sales of
existing homes were up for the month, albeit still far below
historical averages. In other news, the Federal Reserve Board’s Open
Market Committee met this week and kept the target funds rate at 2.0%,
putting an end to an eight-month-long string of rate changes. For the
week, the S&P 500 Index fell 3.0% to 1,279 (for a year-to-date total
return of –12%). The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 17
basis points to 3.99%.

To read Vanguard(R) Economic Week in Review in its entirety, go to:
http://www.vanguard.com/visit/econweek062708

If the inflation rate grows faster than your investment’s rate of return, it can cause your savings–and your purchasing power–to erode. To maintain your purchasing power, you need to earn a rate of return higher than the inflation rate. Currently, the US inflation rate is about 4%. 

Unfortunately money isnt taught in school. If you go to college for finance, sure, but not in your everyday classroom at least. It’s tough to understand, and even more so because no one has a magic formula when it comes to creating a guaranteed, secure financial future. 

Lots of Americans can’t even think about the future because they’re worrying so much about today. It’s time to start investing in your future today. It’s only going to get tougher the longer you wait. Think about your whole financial picture and where you can cut back to ease up your cash flow to help get you further ahead, faster.