FAIRMONT–Fairmont Early Childhood Initiative and Fairmont Community Education and Recreation have received a $20,000 grant to be used for summer learning support from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. The money will be used to provide young learners ages 0-8 and their families a variety of learning opportunities throughout the summer.
SMIF grants are awarded to nonprofits and local government units across 20 counties of south-central and southeastern Minnesota. The foundation has provided more than $114 million in grants, loans and programming over the past 34 years.
CER director, Roni Dauer, said they were invited to apply for this special grant and received it in late April.
“SMIF has been very generous to the Fairmont community and to our Early Childhood Initiative activities. We’ve gotten other grants from them to provide wonderful learning opportunities for young children and families in our community,” Dauer said.
Together ECI and CER are coordinating the events and dispersing the funds. Both Dauer and Fairmont Elementary co-principal, Michelle Rosen are on the ECI board.
“Michelle and I brainstormed and contacted other advocates of young learners and came up with ways that would be great summer fun for youth and their families,” Dauer explained.
Dauer said Rosen had already had some dates set for family park nites, but with the grant money, they rented the Cedar Park shelter house from the city.
“There’s meals and staffing going along with that. The food will be there until it runs out,” Dauer said.
The dates are Tuesday, June 15, Tuesday, July 20 and Tuesday, August 17. For each date, the event will run from 5:30- 7 p.m.
“I worked with Doug Peterson at Bowl Mor Lanes to set up some free time for families with young children to go bowling,” Dauer said.
The dates for bowling are Saturday, June 12 from 2 – 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 26 from 6- 10 p.m.
Dauer said they were also trying to figure out ways to promote outdoor family activities and use the great trail system that Fairmont has. They came up with ECI ‘Caps for Kids’ which will be for families hiking and biking on community trails.
“The Kids Just Want to Have Fun committee volunteered to pass out free caps with the ECI logo to young children who are using the trails with their families on these dates,” Dauer said.
Dates for the event are Saturday, June 26 along the Hobo Trail/Heritage Acres Trail; Saturday, June 17 along the trail near the Aquatic Park; Saturday, August 14 at Cedar Creek Park. Each date is from 9- 11 a.m.
On Thursday, July 22 from 3- 8 p.m., families can swim at the Aquatic Park free of charge. There will be opportunities to learn about water safety during mini-lesson sessions and families can register for prizes.
The Aquatic Park has also ordered about 150 quality lifejackets for this special night. Families will receive a free, size-appropriate lifejacket for their child.
“We wanted to promote water safety for our young families in a community that has five lakes within its city limits,” Dauer said.
Finally, the playground supervisors for CER are putting together about 150 “grab n go” bags for families with young children to use throughout the summer. Dauer said each bag has about $15- $20 worth of fun and educational materials.
“We’re hoping the bags will be ready by mid-June. We need to order supplies so call and register for those and we’ll let you know when they come in,” Dauer said.
To pre-order the “grab n go bags,” or ask any questions, contact the CER office at 507-235-3141.
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ECI and CER receives SMIF grant | News, Sports, Jobs - Fairmont Sentinel
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