LEWISBURG — In three years, attendance at the Donald L. Heiter Community Center’s after-school program has more than doubled in attendance to 116 children with probability of continued growth next year.
But will there be a program?
The center’s program has benefited from $55,000 a year in Community Development Block Grant funds from Lewisburg, Kelly Township and Union County for the past three years.
But its three-year entitlement has expired, making this year’s fundraising campaign even more important.
“When we started the program, our goal was to have 60 kids someday,” said Andrea Tufo, the center’s executive director. “Today, we can’t keep up with the requests for new attendees.”
The campaign kicked off Monday with a goal of $40,000 to help cover costs of community programs, specifically the after-school academic enrichment program, as well as provide scholarships for low-income children to attend the center’s programs.
Without the support, Tufo said most of the scholarship opportunities will be gone.
“Our competition is not parents choosing other after-school programs and daycare facilities,” Tufo said. “It’s parents having no options other than to leave children at home unsupervised.”
Tufo said the after-school program has become so popular, parents have started asking for an early-morning program.
In the after-school program, children ages 5 to 13 participate in a variety of activities that include doing homework and studying with student volunteers from Bucknell University and a collection of volunteer retired teachers.
Among the popular games, according to Tufo, are foosball, basketball, dodgeball, jump rope and group activities on the exercise mats. Tufo said children are also involved in crafts, drawing and painting and take trips to local playgrounds when weather permits.
Program for all kids
Jane Amacher, vice president of the center’s board of directors, said the after-school program provides benefit to all children involved, not just those from low-income families.
“For a long time, we battled the perception we were only a place for at-risk children,” Amacher said. “We’ve finally gotten to past that point because people realize we offer quality programs.”
Key to the program’s success is the hour-long study period, Amacher said.
“Parents don’t want to fight with their children to do their homework as soon as they get home,” Amacher said. “With it’s already taken care of, there is more opportunity for parents to spend time with their children without worrying about struggling with them to do school work.”
Knowing the struggling economy is pinching every potential donor, Amacher said the center is focusing on promoting its core mission.
“I don’t think people realize the ramifications if we weren’t here,” Amacher said. “We impress upon everyone if they want the community to be safe, we better take care of the children. Among all the things we teach the children, we teach them respect. They learn to respect themselves and their community.”
For more information on the Donald L. Heiter Community Center, including ways to donate, visit www.donaldheiter.org.
-- E-mail comments to jnorth@dailyitem.com.
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