The Mary Alyce and John Merow Distinguished Volunteer Service Awards

The generous philanthropic gifts directed to Learning Ally from Mary Alyce and John Merow’s estate and foundation will provide Learning Ally with an incredible opportunity to invest and  enhance our solutions for students who struggle to read.  We are in the process of redesigning our solutions to take into account the specific needs of teachers and students based upon their grade and instructional focus.  We believe these enhancements will be the cornerstone for expansion to allow Learning Ally to reach more schools and students than ever before and ensure our students receive effective, proven solutions to help them learn and thrive.  In our work with more than 18,500 schools across the country, our solution are an essential part of the accommodations and resources for helping struggling learners succeed.  We are confident we will be able to reach more schools and students as we continue to enhance our solutions and leveraging this gift will go a long way to getting us started.

Mary Alyce Merow was a longtime volunteer who accumulated over 4,000 service hours recording audiobooks in the New York studio over several decades. She was part of the Wednesday morning "Breakfast Clubbers" group of volunteers, and we dedicated booth Number 7 in honor of the Merows. She also served as Secretary and member of our National Board of Directors.

You matter. You make a difference.

Your great generosity has had a profound and lasting impact on our students. Your willingness to share both your time and your talent says a lot about each of you as human beings. Your willingness to give selflessly to help others speaks to both your strength and the quality of your character.

Mary Alyce and John Merow Over Achiever Awards

These wonderful volunteers have donated an awesome amount of service hours in the past year (April 2020-March 2021)!

1000+ Hours

Rosemary McDonald
Marsha Poppie
Donald Sheetz
Leslie Wiesenfelder
Eileen Yen

750-999 Hours

500-749 Hours

Edwin Beck
Prudence Breitrose
Halina Bustin
Jerry Byrd
Joseph Clark
Susan Green
Kurt Heringhausen
John Hickam
Rishabh Jaryal
Kathi Jensen
Judith Lanzinger
Diane Martin
James McCullough
Bill Payne
David Welp

250-499 Hours

Robert Anderson
Maryfran Annese
John Arnott
David Bebko
Deane Bell
Carole Buell
Kathy Cummings
Todd Curless
Clifford d'Autremont
Sheila Damens
Paul Deleeuw
Lindsey Dodson
Robert Ellsworth
Jeffrey Engel
Aniella Fields
April Forwood
Albert Friedman
Chirag Goel
Brian Hill
Nick Jones
John Kain
Bruce Kaplan
Al Kendziora
Janette Kragen
BettyAnn Kram
Ann Krohn
Dorothy Liston
Thomas Lockhart
Linda Mancia
Bonnie Marcus-Bennett
Richard McCurdy
James Morrison
Jim Myerberg
Keith Nichols
Shirley Nute
Myra Parker
Bonnie Patterson
Teresa Pavlin
Richard Piper
Rita Pyrdol
Anne Raugh
Marc Richman
Anne Rudisill
John Sandlin
Mary Schiavone
Alison Seymour
James Siewert
Susan Snookal
Kathy White
James White
Susan Wilson
Anthea Winandy

100-249 Hours

MaryLou Aesquivel
Dashua Allbaugh
David Alper
Noemi Arndt
Carol Bateman
Pat Beauchamp
Deborah Behnke
Christopher Betley
Heidi Bindhammer
Elizabeth Blizzard
Sheila Blunt
Elizabeth Bradley
Becky Bubenik
William Burke
Ellen Campbell
Janet Cappers
Christopher Choi
Vivian Chu
Kara Chung
Shelley Cincotta
Mark Clement
Jaci Collins
Stephen Connor
Susan Crawford
Gary Crockett
Andy Cui
Kelly Dam
Vicki Davis
Catherine Denison
Pat England
Maya Epstein
Katelynn Erickson
Heidi Farnell
Valerie Fenwick
Maya Fleischmann
Eva Folch Muixi
Barbara Forsberg
Claire Foster
Keely Fraser
Debra Freund
Amy Frost
Leslie Gallagher
Norval Galloway
syeda Gillani
Ruth Giordano
Almaelisa Giovannucci
Charlotte Gnessin
Jamie (James) Goins
Jonathan Halverson
Michael Hegarty
Susan Heinz
Harlan Hively
Elizabeth Hoffman
Virgil Howarth
Joseph Hurley
Alicia Hurley
Christopher Infranco
Adrienne Jenkins
Kayla Johnson
Tyla Johnson
Sheila Kerwin
Christine Kessides
Susan Kohler
Don Kovar
Richard Kozelka
Susan Kropiewnicki
J.B. Kump
H. Lanchester
Patricia Lim
Donna Lloyd-Jones
K Lo
Giselle Lumas
Roger Majchrzak
Nicole Maria
David McAlary
Betsy McClure
Howard McDonell
Mary Lou McGee
Molly Mettler
Lauren Mori
Melanie Morton
Susan Newman
Joseph Nimoy
Brendan Nurczyk
Heather O'Donnell
Vincent Oddo
Annette Oliveira
Russell Oliver
Scott Olson
Adele Phelan
Shawn Poindexter
Rhett Price
Niranjani Radhakrishnan
Bethanne Reid
Lee Ann Remington
Deborah Reza
Sandra Roth
Martin Sacks
DEBRA SAMUELSON
Don Savarese
David Schnapp
Janet Schoor
Betty Schreiner
Earl Sewell
Cynthia Shelmerdine
Elizabeth Sherer
Steven Sittig
Joseph Smith
Scott Smith
Susan Smith
Jane Smith
Buddy Snipes
Caren Snook
Susan Stanley
Bernard Strauss
James Strong
Robert Sutherland
Evelyn Tate
Elizabeth Taylor
Geoff Thomas
Wendy Van Norden
Robert Vary
Elizabeth Vazquez
George Vella-Coleiro
David Vincent
Robert Walton
Amelie Warneryd
Janelle Whiteside
Sharon Whitlock
Robyn Wiseman
Mark Wolff
Adele Wolfson
Tom Woosnam
David Yudin
Garry Zaslow
Belinda Zhang

50-99 Hours

Mary Alyce and John Merow 
Above & Beyond Awards

These great volunteers have gone the extra mile, and we really appreciate it!

Literature Community

Listeners
Bob Anderson
Halina Bustin
Chris Gullen
Bill Payne
Les Wiesenfelder
Beira Winter

Special Mention
Eileen Yen
Chris Gullen
Beira Winter

Textbook Community

(most Textbook volunteers serve in multiple areas)

Nola Bragg
Carole Buell
Joe Clark
Kathy Cummings
Sue Green
Kathi Jensen
Linda Mancia
Myra Parker
Adele Phelan
Anne Raugh
Shelley Cincotta
Caren Snook
Susan Snookal
Susan Cross Stanley
Barbara Stoebenau
Bernie Strauss
Ev Tate
Susan Wilson

Training Support

Robin Brodowsky

Special Service Projects

Nikita Badlani
Rayan Cheikhali
Laurie Fais
Umme Habiba
Emily Kerns
Sheree Koppel
Debbie Mihalek
Riya Pottapinjara
Shrinidhi Ramachandran
Paula Strumph
Sarah Van Alstyne
Nick Vlahakis

Mary Alyce and John Merow 
Lifetime Milestones

9,000 Hours

David Welp

7,000 Hours

David Bebko
Jeffrey Engel

6,000 Hours

Diane Nawrocki
John Sandlin

5,000 Hours

Marsha Poppie
Barbara Stoebenau
Leslie Wiesenfelder

4,000 Hours

3,000 Hours

2,500 Hours

2,000 Hours

1,500 Hours

1,000 Hours

Catherine Denison
Jennifer Ellis
Albert Friedman
Brian Hill
Myra Parker
Adele Phelan
Rita Pyrdol
Eileen Yen

500 Hours

John Arnott
Shelley Cincotta
Paul Deleeuw
Maya Fleischmann
Kurt Heringhausen
Rishabh Jaryal
Nick Jones
John Kain
Bruce Kaplan
Kenneth Klinkner
Janette Kragen
William Lindstrom
Linda Mancia
Clive Morrick
James Morrison
Stephanie Nealer
Russell Oliver
Anne Raugh
Joseph Smith
Susan Stanley
James Strong
Elizabeth Vazquez
Mark Wolff