This past weekend, the Butler Rotary Literacy Luncheon raised more than $10,000 — which was more than double its goal — for Butler County Community College’s adult literacy program. The college’s program prepares residents to take their GED by offering classes, scholarships and other services.

The luncheon’s organizers deserve praise for the event to fund the program, which provides a number of vital services for local residents, from teaching basic computer skills and improving reading and math skills to tutoring, household budgeting and providing English as a Second Language classes.

In late 2016, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that about 32 million adults in the United States cannot read, and that 50 percents of adults are unable to read a book written at an eighth-grade level. The previous year, the U.S. Census found that about 37 million people — or 15 percent of U.S. Adults — did not have access to, or know how to use, the Web.

Reading skills and the capacity to use a computer have become instrumental for a large percentage of careers in the United States. Obviously, being able to speak the English language also expands career possibilities for Americans.

So, it’s great to see the community raising money for such an important cause as the Butler Rotary Literacy Luncheon and BC3’s adult literacy program. Speakers at the luncheon noted how classes offered by the program and scholarship money raised through the luncheon have made a difference in their lives.

“The scholarships have been huge for me,” said Krissandra Wiles, who is taking classes she is required to pass before receiving scholarship money to take the GED test. She pointed out that each of the four tests plus the GED-ready exam she will take costs $30, which might not be affordable for many students. “Some people think $30 is not much, but it’s a lot to me,” she added.

During the luncheon, Barb Gade, the grant director for the adult literacy program, said that 17 people have earned their GEDs through the program since July and 49 have completed it during the last fiscal year. We agree with Gade’s assertion that the classes offered through the adult literacy program and the scholarship that enables them to take the GED allows local residents to become “working, functioning members of the community.” Often, a person’s choice to not better themselves through further education or learning new skills has less to do with a lack of interest, and more with a lack of funds or available services.

We hope that this important local program will continue to flourish and urge area residents looking to advance their education to take advantage of it.