By Mary Owen
Aumsville’s summer reading and recreation programs received a much needed financial boost.
“We got two wonderful grants – one for $5,000 from The Ford Family Foundation and a $75,000 grant from the Mid-Willamette Valley United Way,” said Lora Hofmann, city administrative assistant.
Hofmann said the city’s summer program, run by donations, grants, volunteers and fundraising, would not have gotten the United Way funding without GROW-EDC, a program that offers free, one-on-one business coaching to any entrepreneur in the North Santiam Canyon.
Executive Director Allison McKenzie said GROW was happy to be the fiscal sponsor for United Way grant, which is to be distributed over two years.
“Every penny of this grant will go directly to Aumsville’s collaborative education program,” she said. “Fostering early engagement in reading and learning makes a critical difference in a child’s ability to succeed economically as an adult, which further enhances economic viability for our entire area.”
McKenzie credited Aumsville’s programs for making learning and reading fun for kids while offering parents tools to help with reading and homework.
“Creating this culture of enjoyable learning in a family context is something Aumsville does beautifully, and we’re thrilled to be part of it,” she said. “They started with eight kids six years ago, and on their first day this summer, they had 207 kids and parents there.”
Hofmann said a child who reads becomes and adult who reads.
“Common sense says that investing in children is one of the best hopes for an area’s future because you have better educated, well-rounded adults,” she said.
Hofmann said the United Way grant will provide funding for the summer reading and recreation programs now and help fund an August Academy at Aumsville Elementary School.
“The academy is a three-week program that will provide specialized teaching to children who may have lost basic skills over the summer or were below grade level at the end of the school year,” she said. “Aumsville Elementary Principal Cyndi Ganfield has some wonderful things planned!”
Aumsville partners with Stayton Library, Family Building Blocks, Cascade School District, Aumsville Fire Department, Oregon Pacific Area Health Education Center, and GROW-EDC to “help Aumsville kids become the best-read kids around,” Hofmann said.
The book grants for the summer program, This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land, provides Aumsville with boxes of books to distribute not only to reading program participants but to the Stayton and public libraries, Hofmann said.
“We are also donating board books and pre-K books to Family Building Blocks, who are taking them into homes where there are not many books. Research says that a child that owns or has in their home 10 books is a child that will do better in school and be less likely to fall behind. Our summer program is 10-weeks long, and each child gets a free book each week. That means that we are doing our best to make sure that every child owns 10 books they like to read.”
For information about the programs, volunteering or donating, call Hofmann, 503-749-2030.
