Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.mini storageJuly 13--Dorothy Gallimore used to worry about having enough money to feed lunch to about 30 preschoolers every day.Now, she knows that when the refrigerator at the Coal Pit Learning Center is suddenly restocked, eight-year volunteer Sam Baronian had something to do with it. He's the faithful deal-hunter for the preschool and child-care center.And the children love greeting volunteer Steve Bacon. They call out "Mr. Bacon and Eggs!" when he comes to check on the center during his lunch break from nearby Bacon Insurance Group.The two men stand out among an overwhelmingly female corps of volunteers at Coal Pit Learning Center on Francistown Road in western Henrico County. Gallimore said that in the 37 years since she opened the center's doors, she has not seen such commitment and acts of kindness from other men toward her students.Most of the students live in single-parent homes with just their mothers, so they tend to cling to the few male volunteers, said Gallimore, the center's director.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has tracked the long-standing trend of women volunteering more than men. Last year, 29.5 percent of women volunteered, compared with 23.2 percent of men.That makes Bacon's and Baronian's contributions all the more meaningful, Gallimore said.The nonprofit center opened in 1976 as Gallimore's reaction to the poverty she observed in the area. Many low-income families did not have access to preschool education for their children.Donfred Stockert, a former pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Church who died in 1998, challenged Gallimore, then the church's director of social ministry, to open a preschool."I said, 'Father, I don't know how to run a preschool!'" she said. "He just said, 'Learn how.'"Now the center has two classrooms with two teachers each for 3- and 4-year-olds, and there is almost always a waiting list to get a seat. Families pay between $30 and $80 per wself storageek based on their income. But fees contribute only about 30 percent of the preschool's approximately $125,000 annual budget, Bacon said. The rest is made up of individual and church donations."We're in one of the wealthiest areas of the Richmond region," he said. "Yet we have part of our community that is below standard income level and in great need of preschool education that is accessible."Bacon heard about Coal Pit Learning Center when Gallimore spoke at the Rotary Club of Innsbrook in 2001.Soon after, he volunteered to be the club's liaison with the center and took over payroll -- Gallimore's admitted weakness. He was instrumental in securing an addition to the center in 2010 that included another classroom, office space and, to the staff's relief, an adult bathroom.Since then, he donated the school's lone computer and has taught Gallimore how to use it."Coal Pit gets them at or above grade level," Bacon said. "It's all about getting the right foundation."Baronian, a lawyer at Cherry, Seymour & Baronian and president of the center's board of directors, said the 4-year-olds graduate in caps and gowns made by one student's grandmother about 15 years ago."Seeing the 4-year-olds at the graduation ceremonies ... that makes it worth the effort," Baronian said.His two children and the educational boosts they received in preschool are always in the back of his mind, too."(Coal Pit Learning Center) allows other parents to have that same opportunity," Baronian said.It's a mantra that resonates in Gallimore's office every time a student comes in to talk about family issues.She often tells them, "You're just as important as the kids of the president of the United States." lkebede@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6243Twitter: @kebedefaithCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) Visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) at www.timesdispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉
- Jul 13 Sat 2013 19:29
Coal Pit shines with help from male volunteers
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