HEALTHY START!

Kids Get a Jump Start for School

Saturday, August 8th, will mark The Brick House’s fourth annual HEALTHY START! Back-to-School Event, and its second year of collaboration with RiverCulture’s Turners Falls Block Party. The event, which is intended to give children and teens a positive start for the upcoming school year, always brought in a good-sized crowd, but joining the Block Party in 2008 proved to be a fantastic decision, with more than 110 kids and teens being served (we ran out of school supplies at 111). We’ll be set up on the corner of Fifth Street and Avenue A, from 2 to 7pm.

HEALTHY START! offers young visitors several opportunities to get ready for school. Dr. Dara Darabi, whose Avenue A Dental is the site of the event, will provide free dental screenings, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department will be creating children ID packets with photographs and fingerprints, between 2:00 and 5:00pm. The Brick House will be handing out free school supplies to school-bound youth, along with healthy snacks (Thanks Uppingill Farm!) and drinks. The event will also supply parents with important information regarding their child(ren)’s educational progress, generously donated by the Northeast Foundation for Children; after school and out-ofschool program offerings from The Brick House, Gill-Montague Regional School District, and other local non-profit organizations; school-based opportunities for parents to become involved; healthy eating and portion sizes; fire safety, from the Turners Falls Fire Department; Boy and Girl Scouts, and other information that will support a healthy start to the school year.

The Brick House will also be supplying discount coupons for back-to-school haircuts. If you would like to make a donation toward free school supplies, donate fresh produce for snacks, or if you represent a child-based non-profit and would like to get the word out, it would be greatly appreciated by the families who participate. Please contact Karen Stinchfield at karen@brickhousecommunity.org or 413-863-9576.

Posted: Wed, Jul 29, 2009
Updated Wed, Aug 5, 2009