The Village Initiative received a warm welcome on Tuesday, October 30 with its delivery of school supplies for Head Start classrooms.
Through generous support from the community, The Village Initiative donated 150 backpacks for preschool children, filled with books, puzzles, flashcards, and winter hats and gloves, and 32 backpacks of classroom supplies for Head Start teachers, including crayons, markers, tissues, glue, nap blankets, water bottles, and other supplies. 147 preschool students in 8 classrooms across 3 Head Start locations—Historic Triangle Center, Norge Elementary, and James River Elementary—benefitted from this partnership. Head Start is a preschool program for children ages 3-5 from low income families.
The partnership with Head Start is a good fit for the Village Initiative, which is a grassroots organization committed to achieving equity in the local school system.
“There is a quote that I love,” says Founder and Executive Director of The Village Initiative, Jackie Bridgeforth Williams, “”Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” We love Head Start and our mission is to provide children with an equal start through our giving. The lovely thank-you card that we received from the Head Start children says it all, “Giving is not just about making a donation but making a difference.” Bridgeforth Williams underlines the importance of working with many community partners. “The entire Head Start staff was fantastic! A special thanks to Michelle Bethea for working with us to create this partnership and to the student volunteers from the William & Mary Make a Difference Day who helped to pack the supplies. To all of the children and families at Head Start, we thank you and look forward to continued giving through our partnership.”
The Village Initiative also operates a volunteer tutoring program in James River Elementary, James Blair Middle School, and the Bright Beginnings Pre-School Program. The Village Initiative is committed to working with schools to address the achievement gap and the disproportionate percentages of expulsion and suspension of minority youth, which leads to the pipeline to prison.
For further information, contact: Jackie Bridgeforth Williams, Executive Director [email protected] https://villagewjcc.org
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