Newsroom@DominionPost.com
After School Explorers is participating in community service project with Kingwood Rotary.
HONOR4ALL is a donation collection project for needed supplies for children entering foster care. More than 200 children in Preston County are in foster care — a number that continues to grow. The goal is to provide honor or dignity to children dealing with an adverse situation. The collection runs through May 15.
Samantha Wiles is the coordinator for Faith, Hope, & Love Foster Closet, 78 Sunny Hill Road, Masontown. The Wiles family has made it their mission to bridge the gap by providing clothing, shoes, school supplies, baby items and equipment to children in a crisis situation. It hopes to make the transition to a foster or kinship home more comfortable and promote growth and well-being.
Often, children are placed with grandparents who are unprepared for a youngster at 2 a.m. on a Saturday morning.
“Honor4All means so much to my family, especially after our nieces and nephew were recently placed in our care and came to us with nothing,” said Christina Lilly, ASE site coordinator at Central Preston Middle School. “I consider myself blessed to once again be a part of this amazing project that will help so many people.”
There are many items that youth in transition can use. Book bags and/or duffel bags for boys and girls are one of the greatest needs. Babies and small children (to age 10) would benefit from bottles, pacifiers, wipes, diapers, stuffed animals, soft child-size blankets, children’s books, coloring books and crayons, toothbrushes, toothpastes, floss, toys and socks. Older children (preteens and teens) need many similar items and would also benefit from writing journals and pens, blankets and stuffed animals, deodorant, body care products, toothbrushes, toothpastes, floss, photo albums, crafts and gift cards.
Brittany Reed, assistant director of After School Explorers, is working with area businesses to host donation boxes for the drive. Items can be dropped off at the Beauty Barn Salon, Kingwood; Craig Civic Center, Kingwood Parks and Recreation; Good News Mountaineer Garage, Masontown; Houses & More Real Estate, Kingwood; Peaslee Tire, Manown; Pizza Pro, Bruceton; Tunnelton Quik Stop; State Farm Insurance with Ray Thompson, Kingwood; Terra Alta Public Library, Terra Alta.
Funding for this 21st Century Community Learning Center is provided wholly or in part by a grant from the United States Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title IV Part B, with grant administration carried out by the West Virginia Department of Education.
Kingwood Rotary is a key community partner in this project. Rotary members worked on a grant application to secure $500 for this project, which was awarded.
“It’s always fun to write grants and bring money into Preston County to help children in need,” said Kingwood Rotary member Susie Huggins. “I’m so excited the grant was awarded.”
To find out more about After School Explorers, follow ASE on Facebook. For more information on the project, contact Brittany Reed at Brittany.s.reed@k12.wv.us or call 304-329-0400, Ext. 150.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
