The Greencastle Summer Enrichment Program, which the St. Andrew’s Family Guild and many of us individually support, is ready to run this year from June 6th to July 9th. Karen Hirt-Mannon and Julie Stevens are the adult leaders for five groups of about a dozen children each. Each group has a college student “counselor” and a high school “mentor”.
The overall theme this year will be “Superhereos” – past and present, male and female, real and fictional. Each group will make its own selection of hereos. Swim lessons at the city parl pool and lunches, in some cases breakfast too, are also part of the program. Angie Dunn will fix the food, which will be provided by the Federal Department of Agriculture’s Summer Feeding Program.
The duration of the Summer Enrichment Program is based on the experience that children tend to drift away for family activities after the Fourth of July. The program cannot accept all children whose families apply, but it can suggest participation in the SPARK Program and YMCA offerings as alternatives. it does accept any children whose families are living at the A-Way Home shelter and those recommended by Family Support Services.
The budget runs over $20,000 with its Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church venue providing many services free. This investment in our community’s children can be life-changing for the staffers and well as for the families involved.
– Contributed by Edith Welliver
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