Ferndale Mayor Announces Partners for Backpack Program
Local groups helped Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter fill backpacks for Ferndale's Headstart classes.
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Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter announced the four partners at Monday night's City Council meeting that helped him fill the 68 backpacks for the 68 Head Start kids.
The backpack program was funded through a $1,250 grant from the Ferndale Community Foundation (FCF), with Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency (OLSHA) as the fiduciary of the program.
The four groups are Credit Union One, Drayton Avenue Presbyterian Church, Ferndale First Baptist Church and "a group of engaged" parents from Roosevelt Primary and John F. Kennedy School (facilitated by Kevin and Bridget Deegan-Krause).
The funding was used to purchase a backpack for each child in Ferndale's Head Start program. The backpack was assigned to a student with a wish list of essential items.
They included:
- Children’s toothpaste
- Children’s toothbrush
- Reading book (for ages 3-4)
- Coloring book
- Crayons (large size)
- Three-pack of underwear
- Two-piece sweat suit or a sweatshirt and sweatpants
A representative from each of the four groups took a backpack and purchased the items for the students. The backpacks will be taken to the school Friday for distribution.
"How anyone would say no, I don't know," said John Kozich, a spokesman for Credit Union One.
The Head Start program, housed at Grant Early Childhood Center, is a national educational program to help low-income families with young children get educational services.
Coulter said he'd like to expand the program next year to encompass the entire Grant Early Education building.
For seven years, Coulter has participated in a similar program through his church in Warren and decided to bring the idea to Ferndale.
Head Start is administered by OLSHA and is operated by the Ferndale Public School District.
In This article
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Credit Union ONE
400 E 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI -
The Drayton Avenue Presbyterian Church
2441 Pinecrest Dr, Ferndale, MI -
Roosevelt Primary School
2610 Pinecrest Dr, Ferndale, MI -
John F. Kennedy School
24220 Rosewood St, Oak Park, MI
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Grant Early Childhood Center
21131 Garden Ln, Ferndale, MI
Kevin Deegan-Krause
6:25 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thanks to Dave Coulter for getting this done! Our community is better for your efforts.
Dan Martin
9:47 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
I second that! This is a great example of private and non-profit organizations partnering to address a critical community need. Thank Dave for bringing this program to Ferndale.
Gary Arnett
10:48 am on Thursday, October 27, 2011
While this is a very admirable effort, I wonder why Hazel Park's Head Start kids were not included? It always amazes me how Ferndale's elected officials never really know what communities make up BOTH of Ferndale's school districts.
Dave Coulter
4:55 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
Gary, this was the first year of this program and I only had funding and commitments for the 68 backpacks we did, but in the future I'd love to expand it not only to the rest of the pre-schoolers in Ferndale but those in Hazel Park, too.
T. Scott Galloway
5:14 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
Gary - I'm not sure your criticism is entirely fair. Hazel Parks Schools have had a standing invitation for years to present to council in exactly the same way that the Ferndale Schools make presentations to Council. HP schools made those presentations for a whiled and then stopped coming a year or two ago. Despite being asked to return have never shown up. If you have a contact in the HP school district, please encourage them to make the city administration aware of things going on in the district so we can publicize them or attend.
Ardy
8:54 pm on Friday, October 28, 2011
This is very similar to the "Blessing in a Backpack" program in Royal Oak. These, and others like them, are very welcomed and necessary programs.
Keep it up.
Suggestion: Via Gary's post; this would be a great opportunity for Hazel Park's School District to come to the table. It can happen but there is a little turf war that exists so that may work against the situation.