College awards challenge grant to community daycare & preschool

Grinnell College is joining the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation in supporting the next generation of students, this time at the Grinnell Community Daycare & Preschool (GCDP). The GCDP campaign to raise $150,000 for upgrades now has twin challenge grants which, when matched by individual donations, will bring GCDP close to its fundraising goal.

In August, the Ahrens Foundation announced a $30,000 challenge grant to jumpstart the community daycare center’s $150,000 fundraising campaign for technology upgrades, classroom libraries, playground equipment, furnishings and equipment for two new classrooms, and staff training and development.

The college will extend the Foundation’s challenge by an additional $30,000, bringing the total one-for-one matching grant to $60,000.

“Grinnell College values education, beginning with our youngest children,” said Monica Chavez-Silva, director of community enhancement and engagement. “In the past few decades there has been increased understanding of the importance of early childhood education.

“We recognize that the Grinnell Community Daycare & Preschool at the Ahrens Center is the only full-service childcare facility in town. Families depend heavily on the center, including many Grinnell College faculty and staff. We’re pleased to partner with the Ahrens Foundation and the community to help ensure that the facility will continue to provide a high quality educational environment for children.”

Kathleen Barnes, director of the center since 2008, says that the center is “often the first to know the good news” that a baby is on the way because parents-to-be want to get the new arrival on the waiting list for the popular daycare and preschool center, with a current enrollment of 137.

“This is a phenomenal facility for this size of community, with the pool and indoor gym,” Barnes said. “There is also a tremendous amount of community support from entities like the Ahrens Foundation, providing things that are important to kids.”

Several programming differences account for the center’s strength: a music teacher who works with all age groups; swimming for two-year-olds and up each week with a certified lifeguard; gymnastics for four-year-olds; librarians who come to the center for story time; and field trips to the Drake Community Library, St. Francis, fire station, and pumpkin farm, to name a few.

“Claude’s vision was to provide a full spectrum of services to area families,” said Julie Gosselink, foundation president. “The Foundation’s highest priority is the growth and success of community organizations like the daycare and preschool. Our challenge grant will help to assure that the facilities and services that Claude intended will continue, and we invite the public to join us in supporting the center’s campaign.”

Gosselink said that the Foundation is also exploring an expansion of the Ahrens Center occupied by the daycare and preschool.

“We want to continue to be a leader in early childhood education but in order to do that we have to anticipate the needs of a safe, supportive, educational environment for the community’s children,” Barnes said. “We are grateful for the Ahrens Foundation’s long relationship with the center and the college’s generous grant. We look forward to working with community members who also want to make the center the best it can be.”

Those who wish to contribute to the daycare and preschool fundraising campaign may send contributions to Grinnell Community Daycare & Preschool, P.O. Box 607, Grinnell IA 50112. Barnes can be reached for questions at grinnelldaycare@windstream.net, 641-236-7214.