ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Parents working at the CDC who were laid off this week have contacted a local kids club to see if their children can go to summer camp. The club is fundraising so the kids can go to camp at no cost. They are hoping the community will come together to make it happen.
If there is one thing most of us want for our kids, it is for them to have a happy childhood, free from the stresses of a world that seems to be spinning too fast and out of control.
The crew at East Atlanta Kids Club works to provide that safety for kids every day but their hearts have now expanded to children whose parents were part of the CDC layoffs.
“We posted something to the effect of we know there are families who are newly in need and many kids who are going to need somewhere to be this summer,” said Ryan Downey, executive director of East Atlanta Kids Club.
The organization provides after-school programming, counseling, weekly food distributions and summer camps at no cost.
“Why wouldn’t you invest in kids and families and, particularly, kids who have less access to opportunity than others through no fault of their own? Kids deserve to have caring adults. They deserve to have quality experiences and opportunities. They deserve to see themselves represented in the good in their community,” said Downey.
The club has been around for 27 years. By Wednesday morning, the organization heard from five families who were part of the CDC layoffs, asking if their kids could go to summer camp with East Atlanta Kids Club. The club is trying to raise funds to send each one of those children, plus others who step forward, to camp, for free.
“The funding is not matching the need. It never does,” said Downey.
Summer camp can be six weeks long, and most parents use the camp as childcare. Organizers said it costs $1,500 for six weeks, per child. They are trying to make space for 20 children. The hope is that donors step in, community members step in, to give these kids a summer full of happy memories and to make life a little easier for the parents as they search and start new jobs and deal with financial changes.
“It is about giving kids the kind of childhood they deserve one that is full of play, structured and unstructured that is full of access to sports and friends and learning, new experiences and field trips- the kind of childhood we want for our own children,” said Downey.
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