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Mission
to provide breakfast and lunch, plus education
enrichment, physical fitness and field trips to the children
of the Lockland and Reading School Districts and surrounding
communities for 10 weeks of their summer vacation. |
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Congregations in Partnership
Covenant-First
and Reading-Lockland |
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2011 Annual Report |
Covenant-First and Reading-Lockland Presbyterian Churches
(working together with Whole Again International, Inc.)
Monday through Friday, 7:30am - 1:30pm
June 6, 2011 - August 12, 2011
at Reading-Lockland Presbyterian Church
Mission: Taking to heart Jesus words in Matthew 18:5-6 and
25:31-46 and believing that hunger, poverty, educational
privation, and racism to be enormous stumbling blocks for
children, Covenant First (CFPC) and Reading-Lockland
Presbyterian Churches (RLPC) launched the Summer Food and
Educational Enrichment Program in 2010 to be held in
Lockland at RLPC. The church is located in the heart of
Lockland, Ohio, which has a high poverty rate, high
childhood obesity rate and dearth of children’s programs.
They networked with Whole Again international, Lockland
School, the Village of Lockland, and Hamilton County Public
Health; and during the past two summers, they have received
essential financial or volunteer support from Northminster,
Mt. Washington, Glendale and Wyoming Presbyterian Churches.
Those attending the program are underserved children, ages
3-15, including disabled, from Lockland and from the outside
neighborhoods of Arlington Heights, Lincoln Heights,
Reading, Hartwell, Evendale, Springdale, Woodlawn, etc.
In the summer of 2011, over 100 children registered; and
although there were many children who returned from the
summer before, there were numerous new faces as well. Monday
through Friday, between 70-80 children were provided a free
breakfast and lunch. The children would arrive about 7:30am
for free play; and hula hoops, jump ropes, and balls went
into action. Breakfast was at 8:00am. Before classes began
at 9:00am, they would gather for singing and sharing. Their
favorite song: “This Is the Day!” At 9:00am, they were off
to classes divided by age groups: Reading, Writing, Math,
Physical Education, plus a separate Pre-School, all taught
by quality educators. Each class lasted 45 minutes,
returning the children for lunch at 12:00 noon. In ten
weeks, over 7500 nutritionally balanced meals were served.
Working with children from widely varying backgrounds from
many diverse communities, our young leaders, elder Sadie
Deaton and Mr. Jon Gall, both UC students, organized field
trips to Paddlefest, Fun to be Fit Day, the Cincinnati Zoo
(with discounted tickets for educational programs), and the
Cincinnati Reds (100 tickets provided by the Cincinnati Reds
Foundation). And . . . miraculously . . . they came home
with the same number that they took! Organizing and keeping
track of 80 children plus chaperones was no small feat. They
did an awesome job of every aspect of the program, and
hiring them continued a tradition at RLPC of allowing youth
to assume responsible positions that will enable them to
grow. Sadie and Jon also contracted with the Cincinnati Zoo
Comes to You for a staff member to bring “critters,” ranging
from a scorpion to a scampering armadillo to a huge snake.
The Synod Mobile Health Van was a great
success and granted the children a valuable screening before
entering school for the fall! The young people traveling
with the van did an excellent presentation to the entire
group of children, teachers, and staff on fitness, healthy
eating, etc. The children loved them, and even some of the
teachers said they learned things that they did not know.
(Three cheers for our Synod!)
Reading-Lockland Presbyterian Church
A church that had appeared to others as closed before 2010,
now is viewed as alive, welcoming, with an open door to
children and families from all neighborhoods and
backgrounds. Now interracial, the church has been
transformed from an inward, survival mentality to
intentionally and actively missional. The partnership with
Covenant-First has provided strength and encouragement, and
networking through the Presbytery and larger community has
enabled them to become vitally connectional and vibrantly a
part of our greater global mission. |
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