As the weather gets warmer, I can’t help but think of the adventures I enjoyed during the summer when growing up. Swimming at the pool. Going to the beach with my parents. Playing Capture the Flag at Camp Letts. Visiting the Air and Space Museum with the first IMAX movies. I had so much fun!
How did you spend the summers when you were a kid?
For children from low-income families, summers can be hard.
The stability of the school year, with a set schedule, warm meal at school, and, hopefully, a solid afterschool program, is interrupted. Their parents have to continue to work hard, two or three jobs, to make ends meet. Budget for family vacations, trips, or camps just isn’t a part of the equation.
I want to make sure children we serve have the fun summer memories like you and I. Will you help me?
At MHP, with the generous support from donors like you, we provide summer camps for low-income children as part of our Community Life programs. We focus on academics, making sure children don’t lose the knowledge they worked so hard to gain during the school year. But we also want to bring them the exciting experiences you and I enjoyed.
We take them to the pool. The Zoo. The Air and Space Museum. The Agricultural History Farm Park. They crave these experiences, and I strongly believe they need them. They have fun, and they learn a great deal without even knowing it.
It costs about $500 to take a class of children on a field trip. It doesn’t sound like that much, but with thirteen classes across seven community centers, and ideally a weekly field trip for each, the cost adds up.
If you donate $500 today, your gift will allow a class of 24 children to visit a museum, explore a new park, or spend a hot summer day at the pool. You will allow them to have the summer they dream of, and that their parents can’t otherwise afford.
One of our site coordinators just recently told me: “Our last summer program the kids were extremely excited because we took them to the Air and Space Museum. They got the opportunity to put their hands on the moon rock and learn about the history of aviation and space travel. I am hoping that experiences like this will inspire them to become our future generation of pilots and astronauts.”
And I agree. With your support, we will be able to provide more experiences like this and help to show our children the opportunities that may lie ahead of them. But they need us to be there for them. Today, and every day.
Thank you for your generosity.
Gratefully,
Robert A. Goldman, Esq.
President
