Online help: Grammar Girl and Amélie Anonymous to the rescue!

Ok. I admit it: I'm a huge fan of Grammar Girl, and because I regularly peruse Craigslist for needs I can help fulfill, I often run across ads like these:

church need your help...
Reply to: sale-330576038@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-14, 6:41PM CDT


church that is growing need your help:

with folding chairs, art craft for childrens fron 1 trhue 12

years old, we also need bibles spanish and english we need the new international version.

we please ask to donated instrument like guiter, flutes, violens, piano
cristiam movies for children.

THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP OR DONATION TO OUR CHURCH...
GOOD BLEES YOU.

There was a point in time when I seriously considered becoming a 7th grade English teacher just so I could do my part in improving communication within the English language. Needless to say, I felt like it was my obligation to help fix this church's ad so that their needs could be met. I wrote the poster the following:

Right now, I can't help you with any of your needs, but I would like to help you rewrite your Craigslist ad. I realize that English may not be your first language, but unfortunately, it is the first language for most of the Craigslist readers. You ad was difficult to understand. As a child of parents whose first language is not English, it is my pleasure to help you.

Here is the new ad with corrections (I hope it helps):
---------------------------
Church that is growing needs your help!

We have a great need for the following:

* Folding chairs
* Arts and craft supplies for children ages 1 through 12
* New International Version (NIV) Bibles in both Spanish and English
* Musical instruments: guitars, flutes, violins, pianos
* Christian movies for Children.

Thank you for any help or donation to our church. God bless you.

To be quite honest, I was a bit afraid that my email message would come off as a bit pompous and would remain unanswered. I'm not sure how I would respond to an anonymous message correcting my grammar, so imagine my response when I got the following email back:

THANK YOU''' IT HELP A LOT. HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Can I just say that I am mightily impressed that the poster made sure that "a lot" was two separate words? The usage of the non-existent word "alot" seems to be the most common grammar mistake. Reading this email made me realize that there is hope for the world, after all!

As of right now, the original ad has been deleted, but I am hoping they will post a new ad soon. I'll update this blog accordingly if they do, indeed, post a revised version of their original ad.

Perhaps more important is this: if you can help with this need by donating any of the above mentioned items, please contact me at atx.anonymous @ gmail.com. I have the poster's original email address, and I'll make sure you get in touch.

[photo credit: god speaks]