Remembering Martha Shufelt

It is with sadness that we say farewell to Martha Shufelt, longtime literacy advocate, Yamaska Literacy volunteer, and friend who passed away in January.

Martha volunteered throughout her life, for many different organizations.  She started her volunteer career at a young age, participating in and governing many school clubs, helping fellow students with their studies and volunteering at the Douglas Hospital in Montreal.  After her studies, she volunteered at the St-Urbain Youth Centre for their after-school homework program, coached basketball at St-Helen’s high school.  She volunteered with Brownies, Scouts, as president of the parent’s committee for the Massey-Vanier Air Cadets in Cowansville, and was active in the local curling club as a coach.  She volunteered with the Red Cross and the local hospital auxiliary, faithfully pushing the “candy cart” through the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins hospital every Tuesday evening.

Martha’s biggest volunteer commitment was her longtime work in the literacy field.

In the early 1980’s, Martha Shufelt got involved in literacy because a young man came to work on their farm and was unable to read in either French or English. She took the Yamaska Literacy Council (YLC) tutor training workshop and then tutored him for three years.  That was the beginning!

While it would be impossible to note all of Martha’s contributions to literacy, here are some highlights:

 

 

• Martha served many roles on the YLC Board of Directors over 40 years, including President, Treasurer, Trainer and Special Advisor.
• Martha was a volunteer Literacy Trainer and trained new literacy tutors for She also traveled extensively throughout Canada to deliver workshops in communities that didn’t have their own training resources.
• Martha was the first YLC volunteer to tutor in the Cowansville Institution (a federal prison). She trained other inmates to be literacy tutors. She not only contributed to raising literacy levels in prison, but helped inmate tutors find purpose in helping others.
• Martha was instrumental in setting up a Peer Youth Tutor Club in the 1990s in the local high school, where she trained students to help tutor their peers.
• Martha volunteered in many ways to increase public awareness of the literacy issues in our community, from volunteering at kiosks, serving beer, and appearing in a calendar to raise funds and awareness. She was a champion for literacy, a driving force behind the growth of YLC and one of the council’s best recruitment officers.
• Martha played a crucial role in the development of the provincial umbrella organization, Literacy Volunteers of Quebec, at times representing YLC, and serving on the Executive as Treasurer for many years.
• Martha served on the National Board of Directors for Laubach Literacy of Canada, was active as Provincial Training Officer, and instrumental in program development (family literacy, training standards) across Canada. 
  

  Martha receiving the Freda Hudson Memorial Award, 2007. (Grace Saabas on right)

Having served the literacy community in numerous ways, Martha still managed to tutor more than 30 literacy students. Her students learned to love and appreciate poetry and literature, to read to their children, went on to enroll at Adult Education, met personal goals such as quitting smoking, getting a driver’s license, or getting out of jail.  She used newspapers, driver’s handbooks, websites, forms, and contest entries as tutoring materials. There was no single recipe that Martha used to tutor. She got to know her student and their goals, and prepared lessons around their interests and needs. In part, Martha’s students succeeded because she expected them to succeed. Her determination and “not taking no for an answer” somehow transferred to those around her.

The following is an excerpt from Martha’s submission to YLC’s 30th anniversary publication: Our stories ~ the first 30 years.

When I sat down to write about my experiences what I got was a list of why society ends up with illiterate adults.  The successes far outweigh the not so successful.  What has stayed the same is the large number of people who need literacy help and the love and dedication of our volunteers. ~Martha

Martha was a powerful and positive role model. She was a true testament to how a volunteer can play a role in changing lives, and make an impact in the community.

In the words of one of her many students,

“Working with Martha changed my life for the better.” That says it all!

 

Goodbye friend. You will never be forgotten. Thank you for your many contributions to literacy.