The Heritage Community Foundation presented a $3,800 grant last month to Patti Brown and Debbie Watkins from the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy along with Henry County Library System director Carolyn Fuller.
The funds will be used to send books to preschool children, aged newborn to five, who are registered in The Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy program. Age-appropriate books are mailed to the children’s homes monthly, after being carefully selected by early childhood educators, development specialists, librarians and FFCL staff. It costs $36 per child per year to send 12 books to one child, along with a parent engagement newsletter.
The Heritage Community Foundation grant will allow 105 new children to be enrolled in the program.
The mission of FFCL is to improve childhood literacy in Henry County by providing free books to preschool children. FFCL contributes to creating a language-rich environment in the home that is the basis for early learning success. The most crucial years in a child’s development occur within the first 3 years, and FFCL’s vision is to give every child the best chance to succeed in school, in life, and to give Georgia an educated, productive and competitive work force.
In Henry County, FFCL is currently sending books to 1,544 preschool children out of a potential enrollment of 12,879. Since inception of the Henry County program in October of 2005, a total of 121,208 books have been mailed.
The FFCL program is free to participating families, regardless of income, race, religion or gender – because any child that cannot read is at risk. FFCL believes that low-income families need this help most. For this reason, they target WIC, early Head Start, and other disadvantaged populations for program enrollment.
For more information on how to apply for a grant with Heritage Community Foundation, make a donation or volunteer, visit www.heritagecommunityfoundation.org or contact chairperson Jenny Smith at 770-478-8881.
Pictured with Brown, Watkins and Fuller are HCF representatives Smith, Sheri Dockweiler and Luann Daniels.
