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Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Pen Pal Matching Program Takes Off

NOEL KING, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Noel King. During the pandemic, Rachel Syme started writing lots of letters on her old-school electric typewriter - lots. She asked if anyone would be interested in a pen pal exchange. Syme, who's a contributor to NPR, created Penpalooza, a pen pal matching program, and it's taken off. Penpalooza now has over 7,000 writers. One woman told The Guardian, when my first piece of mail arrived, the excitement I felt was beyond reason. It's MORNING EDITION.

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web introduction, we incorrectly refer to Rachel Syme as an NPR contributor. She is a New Yorker staff writer.] Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Corrected: December 8, 2020 at 12:00 AM EST
In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web introduction, we incorrectly refer to Rachel Syme as an NPR contributor. She is a New Yorker staff writer.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.