We're in the TELEGRAPH!

Thanks so much to TheBANK of Edwardsville for providing us with this opportunity to give our children sturdy shoes for school.

Now Enrolling for FREE Preschool!

Is it really that time of year again? Already?

Here at Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, we are entering Back-to-School mode. As employees hustle and bustle trying to find school supplies to fill their children's backpacks, the agency hustles and bustles preparing for the new program year.

As fall approaches, Head Start is gearing up for the school year. Staff are looking forward to working with families to help teach children reading, math, physical, motor, relationship, and language skills.

Head Start is a program that provides education, health and social services to 800 low-income children ages three to five and their families. The program is designed to provide qualifying children with the resources that they need in order to have a "head start" in life. One of these resources is free preschool. Centers are now enrolling. For more information or to see if you qualify, call (618) 463-5947

Oh, BABY!

We are excited to announce that Family Foundations held Infant Massage Class at its new space, 1800 East Broadway, next door to the Essic Robinson Head Start center.

Parents enjoyed learning a new way to bond with their children, and the babies loved receiving massages!

The Parent Group Meeting was the first of many. Topics for future meetings include First Aid, Potty Training, Nutrition, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Dental Health, Budgeting, Preventing Abuse, and CPR.

Family Foundations is a home-based program, but many of its families do not have access to transportation, so Family Foundations leased space at 1800 East Broadway in Alton to provide families with more opportunities to socialize and learn.

Riverbend Head Start & Family Services works diligently to provide the best services to our children and families, and we are pleased that our Family Foundations program has developed this new way of interacting with parents.

We thank the Alton Foundation for the grant that funds these opportunities for Madison County families.

GoodSearch to support local children and families

What if Riverbend Head Start & Family Services earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Riverbend Head Start & Family Services as the charity you want to support. Don't forget to set GoodSearch as your home page and spread the word about this simple way to support Madison County children and families.

Testing 1,2,3!

Riverbend Head Start & Family Services is really working to move into the online realm! With this blog, we hope to keep you in the loop about our most recent news! For now, suffice it to say that we are working diligently to bring you a user-friendly website complete with blog, search capabilities, and updated information!