Preschoolers collect food donations for Jonnycake Center

URI’s Childhood Development Center (CDC) within the College of Health Sciences celebrated Week of the Young Child along with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) last week, working with preschoolers to perform service in the community.

“This is an annual celebration of early learning, young children, their teachers, and families,” said Jessica MacLeod, director of URI’s CDC. In recognition of the celebration, Gov. Gina Raimondo officially declared April 8-12, 2019 as Week of the Young Child in Rhode Island.

The CDC houses two NAEYC-accredited laboratory preschools where events were held to celebrate the week. On “Work Together Wednesday” the preschoolers at the CDC packaged up food donations for delivery to the Jonnycake Center. The CDC collaborated in an outreach effort with neighbors across the street at St. Augustine’s church and across the parking lot at the URI Transition Center. The CDC, the Transition Center, and St. Augustine’s all collected food donations to support the Jonnycake Center’s ability to provide healthy lunches for children in need during the April public school vacation week.

“This service learning project provided children with an opportunity to see how we can increase the impact of our outreach efforts by working together with others in the community,” MacLeod said.

For information on how to get involved with next year’s celebrations contact MacLeod at jldavis@uri.edu. #WOYC19