SAYING GOODBYE AFTER 20 YEARS
The Acorn Childcare Center started as a small idea and grew into a network of support for families facing extreme poverty, nurturing young lives, empowering caregivers, and strengthening the community for two decades. Reaching this milestone is bittersweet, however, as we make heartbreaking but neccessary plans to close the Center this summer. Inflation has become a bigger and bigger challenge every year, and our capacity to raise funds just hasn’t kept pace. We plan to continue to offer care to families through June and to help them make other arrangements so that the children receive as much support as we can provide for as long as possible.
Over years the Center brought so much joy and comfort to young children and their families who needed it most. Former students have been sharing their stories about how the Center impacted their lives. For example:
Luis David enrolled in 2008 when he was just 2 years old. His younger sister, Anita, and brother Pablito, enrolled in subsequent years. He wrote to us, sharing his favorite photos and fond memories of kind teachers, delicious food, exciting activities, and even the challenges such as learning to tie his shoes.
In his message, Luis David wrote, “[The Center] was a place where I could experience what it means to be a happy child.” Today, Luis David and Anita are both working as systems engineers and studying law at university. Pablito is enrolled in high school and their mother has also earned a bachelor’s degree!
In a video message, Abigail, class of 2013 said, “It was more than a nursery for me; it was the place where I grew up, where I made friends and where I began to form my dreams. There I learned to trust myself more and to strive to do things right.” Today Abigail is studying at university to become a primary school teacher.
Ricardo, class of 2014, sent a video of himself looking through the photo album he recieved at graduation. He shared fond memories of the zoo trip, playing dress up, and how all his presentations in front of his classmates back then has helped him feel comfortable speaking in front of others today.
We are enormously grateful for your generosity and encouragement over the years — you helped us transform the lives of so many young children and brought us to this incredible milestone. Thank-you.