The Council received a first-time grant of $2,500 from People's United Community Foundation to support its Early Literacy Family Book Bag Program, which provides child care centers and family child care providers with bags of books to lend to children in their programs, to encourage family reading time and promote early literacy. The Council was recognized, along with 17 other local grant recipients, at a breakfast event hosted by the Foundation.
"Our Book Bag Program plays a critical role in early literacy for Westchester's children - giving them the opportunity to develop and share a love of reading and storytelling with their parents and siblings outside of school," said Child Care Council Executive Director Kathy Halas. "We are so appreciative for People's recognition and support of this early learning initiative."
Participating child care programs also receive training and technical assistance from Council specialists to build and enrich the early literacy experiences they provide to the children in their care. The Council has distributed approximately 2,000 books to child care programs and providers since the Family Book Bag Program was established in 2012.