u Foundation grants funds for Children's Center expansion

by Brandi Reasor Se11tme/Rt•110rter

$180.000 of the $613.000 needed to expand the NIC

Children's Center has been raised by the N IC Foundation after figuring the prorits from the Heart Strings concert Feb. 7 and 8. St;vc Schenk. dean of co ll ege rel ations and executive director of the foundation. said the foundation i.., committed to raise the rest. and although the decision is yet to be made. he ,aid he plan, to bring it to the board ut its Murch meeting.

"It's prclly important that we ,tart thi, proces\ as soon as po,sib lc:· Sc hcn~ said. Schenk said tht ideal plan is to raise the funds by spring commencement. begin construction and wrap up by fall semci..tcr. The cen ter runs August through May. and this plan wouldn't interrupt the centers activities.

According to Shelley Thoma,. Chi ldren' s Center ch ild care supervisor. the ce nt er accommodates up to 30 children between th e ages of two and a half and 5. There arc 104 children on th e waiting li s t and approximately 10 calls arc turned away weekly.

The new ce nter will triple the s ize and accommodate 70 to 80 c hildr e n : adding infant/toddl er facilities and a hot lun c h program.

Thomas said the center's employees are thrilled about th e project.

The new cente r will provide a viewing area , "ga ll ery," for people to observe the children wit hout disrupting activitie~.

"As you can see. we are lit era lly bur~ting at the scams ri ght no w,'' s he sa id

Thomas said the center's kitchen is in a classroom. there arc no s torage areas and no emp loyee break room. The Head Start Program provides the kid's lun ches. but it ha s to be de li vered. Thomas sa id the new center's lunch program will be provided by th e SUB. which she believes will bring the center closer to NIC.

Thomas sa id the c hildre n may get to eat, one class at a tim e, at the SUB once a month.

"Our goal is to become more int egrated into the NIC community:· Thomas said.

The new infant/toddler facilities will be more convenien t ror students who arc parents of both infants and pre-schoolers.

··11 will certa inl y save tim e and mo ney ,'' sa id NIC student Linda Wallen.

Wallen is taking her prerequisites fo r physical therapy and said it will be very nice not to have to take her children to different places every day. People contributing $500 dollars or more w ill be recognized on a donor wall in Lhe new center.

Through the NIC Foundation's concert ser ies of '97 and '98, sponsored by Washington Trust Bank, $90,000 has been raised.

Major contributors to the centcr·s expansion include: $ I 0,000 from Kellogg resident Eula Chilco11; and a $5.000 contribution to thc'98 concert series by Brad a nd Shariae Dugdale.

Washington Water Power donated $ I million for education in the region. NIC received an $80.000 donation of that. $75,000 will benefit the Chi ldren's Center expam,ion.