Read Me Week

It is Read Me Week (February 27th - March 2, 2012), and everyone at McNeilly is having a ball celebrating! For the entire week McNeilly is highlighting the importance and fun of reading with special activities, guest readers, and opportunities for the children to wear silly hats, wild socks, and even their favorite pajamas!

Students from Harding Academy conducted a book drive for McNeilly and spent a day this week reading with the children. The kids loved having visitors, and they really enjoy having all of these newly donated  books in their classrooms!

On March 2nd we cap off this fun-filled Read Me Week with a celebration of the birthday of Dr. Seuss!

BIG Thank You!

It was a spectacular holiday season for everyone at McNeilly. We are so grateful for the generosity of those in our community who helped bring joy to more than 350 children in need from McNeilly Centers this season. A big, huge, gigantic thank you to the very special individuals and families who sponsored "angels," as well as those at Healthways, Quorum Health Resources, PRIMUS/Ford Motor Credit, IBM, Riverwood Church of Christ, Renasant Bank, and Emma Email Marketing for making Christmas wishes come true for the children we serve!

All of us feel incredibly blessed that there are so many in our community willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. If you would like to learn more about McNeilly's programs and the children we serve, we hope you will SAVE THE DATE for our upcoming breakfast event. The "A BETTER START" breakfast will be held on Tuesday, April 24th at the Ezell Center at Lipscomb University (8:00 am). The breakfast is a wonderful opportunity to hear how quality early care and education programs help give a better start in school and in life to at-risk children. The event is free for attendees, but donations are encouraged. Featured speakers will be Luke Gregory, CEO of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and Dr. Meg Rush, chief of staff. For more information or to RSVP please email shellie.fossick@mcneillycenter.org.

Support a Child

Annually, McNeilly Center for Children reaches out to our friends, donors, and those in the community who are committed to making a difference for children in need, and asks for their support of a McNeilly child. The work of McNeilly Center for Children is critical. Currently in its 95th year, McNeilly Center for Children is one the largest providers of quality, affordable early education for low-income children in Middle Tennessee, serving almost 600 children each year. At McNeilly, we know that all children, regardless of family income, deserve quality early education. Affordable child care is a barrier that McNeilly Center removes for low income parents seeking employment. For the children, McNeilly provides the foundation they need to become lifelong learners and contributors. It is a challenge, though, to continue to provide financial assistance to the 100% of children who qualify at McNeilly. After we receive revenue for each child from parent fees, the Department of Human Services, United Way, and grants from community and corporate foundations, there is still a $250 balance per year for each child.

We invite you to join with us to Support a Child, for one year. Your gift will help provide safe and affordable care to an impoverished child. Thanks to you, a child in need will have exceptional early education opportunities, will have hot meals, supervised, safe and developmentally appropriate play time, will have the chance to read stories, to laugh and learn, and will be ready for school and life. We hope you will choose to make a profound difference in the life of a child, a family, and our community by clicking here to make a secure online donation.

Please visit http://www.razoo.com/story/Mcneillycenter to become a fan!

Donate to MCNEILLY CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC at Razoo

Giving Through Guidestar

Your end-of-year gift could help us win $5,000!


Planning on making a donation to us before the end of the year? Want to help us win $5,000? You can, just by making your donation through our profile on GuideStar: http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/a/62-0479366/mcneilly-center-children.aspx.

The nonprofit that receives the greatest number of donations through GuideStar between November 1 and December 31, 2011, will win $5,000 in the GuideStar-KIMBIA 2011 Giving Season Giveaway.

We’re always grateful for your support. To make a contribution that will count for the giveaway, please click on http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/a/62-0479366/mcneilly-center-children.aspx.

Investments in Early Childhood Education

A couple of days ago an interesting New York Times op-ed article entitled Occupy the Classroom, was featured online. The opinion of the author, Nicholas D. Kristof, that "the single step that would do the most to reduce inequality has nothing to do with finance at all. It’s an expansion of early childhood education," is very intriguing. Check it out to read why he sums up the article by saying, "the question isn’t whether we can afford early childhood education, but whether we can afford not to provide it."

Speaking of investments in early childhood education - McNeilly is very grateful for the support of Humana Communities Benefit who awarded McNeilly Center a grant as a finalist in their 2011 grant competition. We were proud to be one of three finalists out of almost 70 applicants, and extend a big thank you to Humana for investing in our programs.

Good Search

Free and Easy way to raise funds for McNeilly Center for Children! Support us when you search or shop online! Download the new GoodSearch/GoodShop toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/mcneilly-center-for-children. By signing up with GoodSearch.com, every time you shop online or search the internet, a donation will be made to McNeilly Center for Children

Here’s how:

GoodShop.com works with more than 2,500 stores (including Target, Apple, Petsmart, and Amazon) and every time you purchase something, a percentage will be donated to us! And, even more exciting, GoodShop also offers over 100,000 of the most up-to-date coupons and free shipping offers so you can save money at the same time. It’s a win win!

GoodSearch is a Yahoo powered search engine that makes a donation to us each time you do a search. Join us in using these sites to help us easily raise money for our mission. Get started by clicking the “Become a Supporter” button on our profile page here or please download the toolbar - it is an easy way to raise money for us doing the things you typically do on your computer! 

YOU SEARCH OR SHOP... WE GIVE!

Raise money for McNeilly Center for Childrenjust by searching the web and shopping online!

GoodSearch

• (Choose a Merchant)
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  • 1800Flowers Coupons
  • 4inkjets Coupons
  • AbeBooks Coupons
  • Bath & Body Works Coupons
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  • HP Coupons
  • L.L. Bean Coupons
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  • Levi's Coupons
  • Musician's Friend Coupons
  • New York & Company Coupons
  • Overstock Coupons
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  • Solutions Coupons
  • Sur La Table Coupons
  • Symantec Coupons
  • The Knot Wedding Shop Coupons

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Quality Programs

The McNeilly Center for Children main site recently received confirmation that we are again a 3 STAR program!  This distinction recognizes child care agencies who exceed minimum licensing standards.  All six of our locations have earned a 3 STAR rating from the Tennessee Department of Human Services, which is the highest possible rating.  Our 3 STAR certification, as well as our national accreditation by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), are just two examples of our commitment to offering high quality programs. 

It is the mission of McNeilly to provide affordable, safe, quality programs for children in need.  Some, may not know, though, what distinguishes a program as high quality.  The licensing and accreditation standards from DHS and NAEYC measure the qualifications of the Director as well as the teaching staff of the agency.  They assess the program and developmental learning that takes place in the classrooms, and they look at parent/family involvement, the physical environment and the teacher/student ratio in each group.  The criteria used to assess agencies ensures that children's daily experiences in early childhood programs are beneficial and that they promote positive child outcomes.  More information is available at preknow.org. 

We are proud that our sites continue to offer high quality programming for children who otherwise may not have quality care options.  The Tennessee Star-Quality program explains that  a provider can receive one, two, or three stars to place on its license and display in its center. Each star shows that the provider meets increasingly higher standards. In other words, the more stars a program has, the better the quality of care it offers to children.  Our children deserve the three star care that we provide, and our teachers and staff deserve many accolades for their hard work to make sure that children enjoy a early education experience that truly makes a difference in their lives.