Thorncliffe kids stay after school – for fun
[attach]1221[/attach]An after-school children’s program at Thorncliffe Elementary School is back on its feet after being forced to close last fall.
Moorelands Community Services, a Davisville –based organization that works with low-income youth, made the tough decision to cancel their activities program after funding dried up.
The tide turned in December, when TD Financial Group made a $25,000 donation to get the program up and running again. Still short, individual donors came through with additional cash.
The program, which runs from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. five days a week, restarted in the second week of January.
“I was so relieved, because the need is so great,” says Patricia Jacobs, executive director at Moorelands. “Research tells us how important structured, after-school programs are for low-income children in particular.”
The group relies almost entirely on donations from foundations, corporations and individuals, said Jacobs.
She said the fallout from last year’s economic downturn is to blame.
“It was a tough year for a lot of people and most charities experienced anywhere from 10 to 20 percent reduction in their available funds and certainly, we were among them,” she said. “We had a nasty deficit at the end of the year.”
Moorelands runs three such programs for 6- to 12-year olds in Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park, and three leadership programs for older children, 11-15.
Activities include physical games, arts and crafts, homework help and reading circles. About 24 children attend youth programs daily.