Santa dropped by New Beginnings Childcare Center yesterday. Some of the littler ones were a bit timid meeting the guy in the red suit. The older children were thrilled.

We would like to thank the Marines and their Toys for Tots campaign for the wonderful gifts for the children.

We also thank the Holyoke Barnes and Noble and especially Gail Harris, Community Relations Manager, for her help in hosting our very first Book Fair. And of course, thanks to everyone who shopped at B&N that day and supported the Book Fair. We raised enough money to purchase a book for each child at New Beginnings. We were just thrilled to present a new book to the children to start their very own libraries and to help them enjoy reading. That is Biscuit's Christmas Eve that the children are holding.

All of us at Springfield Partners wish you the best holiday season and a safe, happy and prosperous 2011.

Playing for Change

Ken Ackerman, creator and manager of Virtual CAP, a web site that shares information among Community Action Agencies, has shared this site with us for the holidays Playing for Change - Peace Through Music

This is a wonderful and moving video of street musicians around the world, singing together. Enjoy!

Early Education is sooooo Important

Just took a look at Strategies for Children's blog (we do try to keep abreast and blogs can be a wonderfully quick and up-to-date way to do that) on a study of pre-kindergartners in New Mexico. Not surprisingly to those of us who have an early education program, the study by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) found that children in pre-kindergarten entered into kindergarten with stronger vocabulary and math skills than children who were not enrolled in a pre-k program. Read the blog for yourself at http://eyeonearlyeducation.org/2010/12/13/study-finds-positive-results-for-nm-pre-k/

Thanks to all who joined us at the Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser

Wow! We had a great time on Wednesday night at the Texas Roadhouse on Cooley Street in Springfield. A big shout out to everyone who braved the cold and joined us there. It's always fun at Texas Roadhouse!

Thank you to our generous sponsors and board members who donated fun prizes for the raffle. We raised just about $600 that night and we are buying new play equipment for our childcare center, New Beginnings.

Winners of our raffle prizes include:

Gordon Quinn

Eric Kobos

Diane Valliere

Sandy Kane

Kathy Kocot

Cee Jackson

Kate Agin

Fudge Milledge

Winnie Cardaropoli

Gymmetta Brantley.

Everyone had a great time, people won fun prizes, and the kids will now have brand new gym epquipment that they can use for climbing and jumping and general cavorting. Great exercise for their little bodies under the guise of fun. Thanks for all your help.

Extend unemployment and end tax breaks for millionaires

This should be a no-brainer; extend unemployment benefits for millions of laid-off workers and don't give any additional tax breaks to people who really don't need it, millionaires. The National Community Action Partnership has joined 79 other groups asking Congress to take care of business. Here's the link to the press release with more details:
http://www.responsibletaxes.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/FINAL-ADVISORY-National-Groups-letter-11.19.101.pdf