The University of Maine cheerleaders are planning several fundraisers to earn their way to the national cheerleading championships April 5-9 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Coach Melinda Kenny reports the team, that includes 20 cheerleaders and four alternates, needs to raise between $20,000 and $22,000 to cover costs of the trip.

Among planned fundraisers are “scratch tickets, sponsor T-shirts, a lobster raffle, passing the megaphone at the Maine-New Hampshire men’s ice hockey game and others, if needed,” she wrote.

The cheerleaders are preparing for their second annual Black Bear Cheering Invitational, which is to be held Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Memorial Gym, known as “The Pit,” on the Orono campus.

The Black Bear Invitational “is open to junior high, middle school and junior varsity as well has high school varsity cheerleaders,” Kenny said.

If your cheering squad has not already registered, you need to know that the entry deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 8.

The cheerleaders will receive funds from this clinic through team entry fees, admission fees and the sale of UMaine Cheering calendars, carnations, concessions and competition T-shirts.

If your team is not already registered, and you wish to do so, or want to receive more information about this event, call Kenny at 944-7833, or e-mail mkenny@bucksportschools.com.

Mary Marin Lyon reports Literacy Volunteers of Bangor is preparing for yet another essential program, and it is seeking volunteers to become English Language Learners or ELL, tutors.

These volunteer tutors help adults to speak English and to understand American culture and customs.

“Typically, after the rush of the holidays,” Marin Lyon wrote, “we receive calls from adults who make literacy a New Year’s resolution.”

The volunteer-tutor training program is 18 hours and will be conducted on five dates beginning in February at United Technologies Center on Hogan Road in Bangor.

The tutor training sessions are 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7; 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9; 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 11; 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14; and 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.

If you are interested in becoming an ELL tutor, you must call LV-Bangor at 947-8451, and register by Friday, Feb. 3.

Course materials are $20, and scholarships are available.

LV-Bangor links volunteer tutors with adults wishing to improve their literacy skills, including learning English.

This is particularly important to adults who have moved to our area from countries in Asia, Africa and Central America, and are in need of English language services, Marin Lyon reported.

LV-Bangor certainly can be very proud of the fact that last year, its volunteers donated more than 11,300 hours to help adults learn to read, and learn to speak or improve their English.

If you want to improve your English-speaking skills, you are also most welcome to call LV-Bangor at the above number for more information.

Gene Staffiere, northern Maine director of the March of Dimes, reports that one of every eight babies is born prematurely.

He asks if your baby was born too early, or if he or she was born with a birth defect such as spina bifida, that you consider helping fight birth defects by becoming a March of Dimes ambassador family.

“One of our biggest challenges is recruiting ambassador families,” Staffiere wrote of those special families who “are such a visible way to show the benefit of our mission, and the product of volunteers’ hard work.”

Ambassador families are those who bring “a face and a real life story that people can relate to,” with their “stories of hope and resilience,” he wrote, that result in “touching, powerful ways to motivate the community to action.”

For every ambassador family that “speaks at events,” Staffiere added, “there are thousands of families that benefit from” March of Dimes research.

If you would like to become or learn more about becoming a March of Dimes ambassador family, or volunteer in some other way, call Staffiere at the March of Dimes office in Brewer, 989-3376, or e-mail him at gstaffiere@marchofdimes.com.

Aroostook Area Agency on Aging director Stephen Farnum recently accepted a check from The Aroostook Medical Center Medical Staff President Lawrence Crystal and TAMC President/CEO Dave Peterson for the AAAA’s Aging Fuel Assistance Program.

TAMC medical staff, through donations collected at their annual holiday party, contributed $900 to the program that helps keep elderly Mainers warm this winter.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.