Reading, Eating, and Saving Lives [AROUND TOWN WITH PHIL]

There are three events you want to be aware of here on the SouthCoast.

UMass Dartmouth is set to commemorate the 20th anniversary of America Reads/ Counts program at the New Bedford and Fall River YMCAs. The UMass Dartmouth Leduc Center for Civic Engagement program connects college student tutors to SouthCoast K-12 students at 14 different locations.

University officials will join with UMassD students and students of the SouthCoast at the New Bedford YMCA, 25 S. Water St, New Bedford, at 3:30 p.m. and the Fall River YMCA, 199 N. Main St, Fall River, at 4:30 p.m.

America Reads was started by President Bill Clinton in 1996 to increase literacy in the country. Since the initiative began, UMass Dartmouth has provided more than 300,000 hours of tutoring and helped more than 15,000 SouthCoast students. Each year, 175 to 200 tutors perform approximately 20,000 hours of reading and/or math instruction and homework help.

Mark on your calendar: Friday, December7 is the 2018 Holiday Soiree Save The Steeple event. WHALE, Your Theatre, Inc., and Gallery X invite you to get your tickets with proceeds going to the First Baptist Church's Restoration project. Tickets are $85 each and include: at 5:30 p.m. the First Baptist Church, 149 William St., and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Gallery X at 169 William St, food prepared from premiere restaurants and caterers, open bar, live music, tour of the historic church, art auction and a performance of "Death Knocks" by Your Theatre. All donations to WHALE are tax deductable to the fullest extent of the law. Call (508) 997-1776 for more information.

Then, the Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues on Friday, December 21 at 7 p.m. with Storm Warriors at the New Bedford National Historical Park theater, located at 33 William Street.

Before airplanes and trains, when the sea was the conduit to move people and cargo, shipwrecks took a devastating toll. The United States Life-Saving Service was formed by the Unites States government in 1878 to hire local men to patrol America’s beaches and rescue shipwreck survivors. Storm Warriors tells the story of these men and women who continually risked their lives to save complete strangers, often in the teeth of raging storms. Their legacy remains one of the great unsung chapters in humanitarian aid. Storm Warriors tells their story through a dramatic recreation of a shipwreck rescue, interviews with historians, and archival material.

Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month beginning at 7 p.m. in the theater of the Corson Maritime Learning Center, located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. All programs are open to the public free of charge.

Around Town With Phil is brought you as a public service by Flagship Insurance.