Franklin Granville Vance Partnership for Children is sponsoring a variety of activities this week to observe The Week of the Young Child, but FGV Partnership Development Coordinator Garry Daeke has a simple suggestion for parents to celebrate all year long: “Love your kids, smile at them every chance you get and spend all the time you can with them.”

Daeke was a guest on TownTalk and provided details for upcoming events in the three-county area for children ages 0-5.

Wednesday, April 5 is “Literacy Day,” and FGV Partnership representatives will be stationed outside the three Walmarts in Henderson, Oxford and Louisburg to sign children up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

“Hopefully, we’ll enroll a lot of children,” he said, adding that they’ll be giving out books to children under 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents of children between 0 and 5 don’t have to wait until Wednesday to sign up to participate – Daeke said most of the applications FGV processes are completed online. It is a simple process, the result of which is each child under 5 getting a book a month in the mail.

He said almost half of the eligible children in the three counties are enrolled in the program, which, for a rural area, is pretty darned good.

Thursday, April 6 is Safe Kids Day in Vance County, and anyone who has a car seat installed in their vehicle can stop by the Henderson Fire Department on Dabney Drive to make sure it’s installed properly.

Daeke said data shows that, despite our best efforts, most car seats need some adjustment to be properly installed. Inspectors will be set up beside the fire department to make sure the seats are safely installed.

There also will be some seats available for purchase as well that day, he said.

On Monday, April 3, about 20 students from a couple of local day cares came to “plant” a pinwheel garden outside the FGV offices, in conjunction with the  observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

 

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