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Child Care Makes a Comeback on Coast as Imagination Station Re-opens in Long Beach, Mississippi
Save the Children-supported center offers 24-hour care, help for
working parents
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Long Beach, Miss. (August 15, 2006) — Imagination Station, one of the largest child care centers in Harrison Country, Miss., and a facility heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, officially reopens its doors to children today, thanks to a Save the Children initiative to rebuild and rejuvenate the child care system on the coast of Mississippi.
Long Beach Mayor Billy Skellie will speak at the 2 p.m. ribbon cutting. Betsy Howie, manager of author relations and promotions at Scholastic Book Clubs, will donate 500 books to create a reading corner, replacing books lost in the storm. And Dori DeCarlo, president of S1 Safety First, will provide each child with a clear plastic backpack as well as donate art supplies to the center. The celebration is open to the public.
Recognizing the critical role of child care to individual and economic recovery from the disaster, Save the Children has invested $575,000 in the child care rebuild program. The agency has partnered with Chevron Corp. and Mississippi State University to assist in the rebuilding and to improve quality of care in 33 centers in Harrison and Hancock counties. Imagination Station is the largest child care facility to be rebuilt through this initiative. Additional funding was provided by the Help and Hope Foundation and Kellogg Foundation.
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Imagination Station, located at 528 East Railroad Street in Long Beach, Miss., lost everything in the storm. With its grand reopening, the center will be one of two 24-hour child care centers in the county. It has the capacity to care for 114 children.
"The devastation of child care across the Gulf Coast has deprived children of a safe, familiar space to learn and play—just as it has hindered parents’ ability to return to work and rebuild their lives," said Jeanne-Aimeé De Marrais, team leader for Save the Children's Hurricane Katrina response. "Focusing on the well-being and safety of children and the needs of their parents is fundamental to recovery."
Said Rebecca Dickensauge, director of Imagination Station: "I didn't know what I was going to do when I saw my center after the storm. Seeing the kids back, playing with all the new toys, brings me so much happiness because I never thought we would be able to rebuild. As difficult as this year has been, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have been absolutely astounded by the overwhelming generosity of the people of my country."
Save the Children currently supports schools, child care facilities, summer camps and local child and youth service organizations in Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi, as well as in the greater New Orleans area and Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
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