Mission Athens Night of Service Benefitting the Family Resource Center Parents As Teachers Program

Please mark your calendars and SAVE THE DATE.  Our next Mission Athens Night of Service will be Wednesday, September 11 at Central Church of Christ.  This quarter, our service project will benefit the Family Resource Center Parents as Teachers Program.

Parents as Teachers is a free parent support and education program offered to at-risk families in Limestone County from conception to age 3.  Our program aims to prevent child abuse and neglect, increase parent knowledge of child development, and increase children's school readiness and future school success. Families enrolled in our Parents as Teachers program are able to earn "Baby Bucks" by taking part in personal home visits, groups meetings, and making other wise parenting choices. These bucks can be used in our Baby Boutique on items such as food, diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, bedding, and books.  Due to a recent increase in the families served, we are experiencing some needs in our Baby Boutique.

We are currently needing:

        - Size 3, 4, 5, & 6 diapers of different varieties. (Some babies can use off brands such as dollar general, but we also need Pampers, Luvs, and Huggies for some children due to skin sensitivity.) We are currently out of the sizes listed. 

        - Cloth diapers for emergencies situations

        - Baby soap, powder, and lotion

        - Small training toilets

        - Baby wipes

        - Sippy cups

        - Any other baby items

The Mission Athens team along with the Central Hospitality Committee will be providing a meal of lasagna, salad and bread FREE for all members who bring baby items to donate to support the Parents as Teachers program.  We are partnering with the Hospitality Committee to host this evening of service in conjunction with our Wednesday night meal, so plan on donating your items and having supper at 6 prior to our evening service at 7.  As usual, desserts and drinks are needed as well, so please bring these items to share.

The Central family always GIVES BIG, and we hope September will be no exception.  We are looking forward to collecting lots of baby supplies to help with this wonderful program, and we thank you in advance for donating generously to help babies and moms and dads right here in our community.

If you have any questions about the upcoming night of service, please contact Laura Swint.  We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Back to School, Back to The Haven

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it."  Proverbs 22:6

We are excited that school is back in session, and after a great summer of fun at The Haven, we are ready to get back into the swing of things with our afterschool program.  As a reminder, The Haven offers afterschool homework help on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 p.m.   We are kicking off our afterschool program on Tuesday, September 10, and we need your help!

Volunteers are needed to help the kids with their homework on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Our goal is to provide help for elementary aged children, and we need lots of folks to help us provide the one on one help these kids need.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our curriculm coordinator Lynn Abernathy.

If you are unable to volunteer during those after school hours, there are lots of other ways to get involved at The Haven.  First, you can donate Walmart gift cards to Beth Patton for use at The Haven.  We use these cards to purchase fresh healthy snacks each week as well as to replenish the supplies we need to keep The Haven clean and kid friendly.

If you want to get your hands dirty, consider volunteering to help with the yard work.  You can sign up to cut the grass, and one area that needs attention right away is weeding the flower beds.  No signing up or volunteering needed--if you have a spare hour, just swing by and tackle some of those beds.  The weeds need to go.

We can't wait to see the kids back at The Haven in a few weeks, and we look forward to seeing you there, too!