FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 19, 2010 (Tempe, AZ) Sun Sounds of Arizona received a grant of $69,000 from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust on July 14. The funds will be used to complete the launch of Sun Dial II, a telephone-based reading service that makes newspapers, radio broadcasts, web-streams and other print media available to people who cannot see, hold or understand printed material. Sun Dial II provides on-demand access to print-based information. Callers can hear today’s newspaper or this week’s grocery ads read aloud wherever they are, using only a telephone.

“Sun Dial II keeps people with disabilities informed and connected to their communities so that they can live productive, self-directed lives,” said Sun Sounds Development Director David Noble. “This grant will allow us to find and register blind or print-disabled persons for telephone-based service.”

“We especially appreciate being a Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust recipient in a year when we’ve seen state services for people with disabilities being reduced or eliminated, and our own budget stretched thin,” said Noble. The grant award represents about one-tenth of Sun Sounds of Arizona’s annual fundraising budget.

This year’s Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust awarded grant funding to 28 Arizona non-profit organizations that further causes Nina Pulliam supported during her life, including helping people, protecting animals and nature, and enriching community life.

Sun Sounds of Arizona serves Arizonans who have disabilities that make reading, holding or understanding printed material difficult. 500 volunteers across the state read from daily local and national newspapers, current periodicals, newsletters, and books from studios in Flagstaff, Tempe, and Tucson.

For additional information about this release, contact:

Heidi Capriotti
Marketing Coordinator, Sun Sounds of Arizona
2323 W. 14th St., Tempe, AZ 85281-6950
480-774-8300
heidi.capriotti@riomail.maricopa.edu

About Sun Sounds of Arizona Sun Sounds of Arizona, established in 1979, is a radio reading and information access service for people who cannot read print due to a disability. A community outreach of Rio Salado College’s Division of Public Service, Sun Sounds and 500 volunteers across the state provide information access free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using special radios, designated cable systems, telephone and the internet.