Hello and on behalf of Literacy Action’s entire board and staff, thank you for making our 2nd Annual Pickle Up for Literacy tournament a success last weekend! This event was sponsored almost entirely by the pickleball community – from our podium sponsors, Made in the Shade and Natural State Restoration and Roofing, and the banner and event sponsors. We are humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support and will have our final numbers soon – we still have rental and tournament director fees to pay. Special thanks to our many volunteers who worked the event, and the LRAC staff who helped us.

Our purpose with Pickle Up was not only to raise funds, but awareness about the challenges of low literacy. Over 100,000 adults in central Arkansas alone struggle with routine things like filling out health and school forms and helping children with homework. Proceeds from this and other 2025 special events (the Tour de Toad Ride for Literacy/May 3 and Literacy Action’s Trivia Bee – team trivia challenge/Sept 12) helps keep tutoring and materials free to our students as they work towards their goals. If you’d like to join our volunteer tutor team or participate in these upcoming events, please email me at dvenhaus@literacyactionar.org – we need you!

TOURNAMENT PHOTOS

We have a couple of pieces of unfinished tournament business – event photos and prizes! Professional photographer David Lewis volunteered his time to shoot Saturday’s play and you can download a high res digital copy of his photos from his link for free, or order copies. https://kcl.smugmug.com/Events/Pickleball-Tournament-LRAC
And you can see the gallery of photos from Sunday’s play on our website at https://www.literacyactionar.org (they will be posted soon).

AND NOW – THE DRAWING!

Get out the red ticket in your swag bag – we kept the other half of those tickets and will post the winning numbers on social media – some on FaceBook and some on Instagram. If you have a winning ticket take a photo of it and post it with your name – we’ll be watching – and be sure to tag Literacy Action! Winners have through Monday, February 3 at the stroke of midnight to claim their loot, first ones to post get to choose first.

THE PICKLE UP PRIZES . . .

Professional headshot donated by David Lewis Photography ($125 value)
(2) $50 gift cards donated by the Little Rock Athletic Club
Pickleball glam pack from Misty Bona (t-shirt, bag and water bottle, priceless!)
Exterior detail from Riverfront Detail and WiggyWash of Arkansas donated by Vicki and Greg King ($150 value)

Again, many thanks for coming out to support Literacy Action of Central Arkansas, we are grateful! Don’t forget to check social media for the prizes, and we’ll post photos of our winning teams too. See you on the court! –Dana Venhaus, Executive Director

Special Thanks to our Pickle Up For Literacy Sponsors!

In Kind Sponsors!