Pioneering Healthier Communities

I have been here in Washington D C for a conference on Pioneering Healthier Communities, sponsored by the YMCA. Our presenter this morning was Marlene Schwartz, PhD, who is the Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Here organization has been in dialogue with fast food restaurants, including McDonalds, about making the "default setting" to children's meals more healthy. An interesting thing is that this morning in the Washington Post there was a full page ad, bought by McDonalds, telling how they have changed the basic Happy Meal to include less fat, less sodium and include fruit! This is exactly what our speaker and the Rudd Center has been advocating.

How timely

A Picnic for 700 Kids!

It is pretty hard to get adequate photos of a picnic for about 700 children. This I learned yesterday, July 15, at Lincoln Park in Rock Island. The event that gathered all these children was the last day celebration for the Rock Island Parks and Recreation summer program for children.
So groups arrived in busses from several programs:

• Rock Island Parks and Recreation had their groups from the Academy, from the Math and Science Center and from Ridgeview Elementary Schools.
• The Martin Luther King Center summer program was there.
• The Family Literacy Program from the Church of Peace came on a bus.
• Valley View Homes program was there.
• Casa Guanajuato was represented.
• The program by Rock Island Housing Authority that meets at Frances Willard School was there.
• Broadway Presbyterian Church program for refugee teens.
• I have this bad feeling that I am forgetting some of the programs.

Well, everyone enjoyed games in the park, a program on the stage and large inflatable toys that children can climb into. There was some coverage by the press and local television. The biggest single event was serving lunch to all these children, and some random folks in the park; grilled hot dogs, chips, watermelon, fruit cup, milk and scooped ice cream! While it was warm it was not too hot. Good day.

Lots of hard work by staff and volunteers.

Summer Readers

For the elementary school age children enrolled in the Summer Family Literacy program at Church of Peace there is a big emphasis is on reading. So here are a group of summer readers in comfortable chairs in the lounge.

Different students use the chairs in different ways.

But clearly there is a lot of reading going on!

The Summer Family Literacy program at the Church of Peace United Church of Christ in Rock Island, Illinois, is supported by grants from the Doris and Victor Day Foundation, the Junior Board of Rock Island, and the Regional Office of Education.

First Day of Summer Family Literacy

Today, July 5, marks the first day of the Summer Family Literacy Program here at the Church of Peace. We cooperate in a similar program during the school year along with other partners. This summer we are doing the program on our own for the month of July.

Three are a few differences. During the school year the program is for parents and their pre-school children together. During the summer we are also providing a class for the elementary school age children of these families. So it is pre-school on the third floor, elementary school age children in one classroom, at adults in two or three classrooms in the basement.

While it is our hope that the program will grow throughout the month we believe that this is a very good beginning.

Another difference during the summer time is that we will be able to provide a light breakfast and lunch daily for the participants.

A very busy first day back after the 4th of July!

This Family Literacy program for the month of July is generously supported by grants from the Doris and Victor Day Foundation, the Junior Board of Rock Island and the Regional Office of Education. We are grateful for their gifts to aid these families.

Fabulous! Food Warmer! Finally! Hosanna!

Here is our cook, Ed Johnson, standing beside our brand new food warmer that was delivered this morning. The food warmer is not even yet out of its wrapping. This will be a wonderful improvement for our food service here at the church.

One of the issues when preparing a large number of meals to be delivered in a small window of time is to keep the food at a proper temperature - warm or cold. What the food warmer allows us to do is to cook warm food and to transfer it into the warmer where it can be kept at a constant temperature. If you look at the bottom you can see dials that allow picking a particular temperature. This is a commercial quality warmer that has a glass front so we can see what is inside without opening the door, and it is of a standard size so commercial sized pans fit exactly on the many racks. What a blessing!

The money for this warmer was given by the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. We had applied first to a national program to benefit food providers to children. When we were not selected for that grant the Community Foundation stepped in and made a grant very promptly. We are so grateful. And this piece of equipment is expensive. What a big help for hungry children in Rock Island.

Good day!

Bike Rack Needed

When Rock Island Parks and Recreation decided to have one of their three Summer Day Camp sites at the Academy, our neighborhood school, right down the street, we figured there was not really much need to have a meal site here at the church. Who knew? We have been averaging between 40 and 50 children at lunch daily!



And this is in addition to the over 100 meals we cater to the children at the Academy, daily, for lunch!


I had been running and errand, and when I entered the church building today about 12:15 pm this is the sight that greeted me just outside the door. And when I walked down the stairs toward the Fellowship Hall, where meals are served, I encountered bicycles inside the building too. The bottom photo.




Clearly, we need a bike rack so that bicycles can be parked neatly and safely.

This would also be a real help for the ESL program. Some of our adult students ride to the church on a bicycle. And a bike rack would be where some of the strollers that the young moms use to bring their children could be locked safely.

If you have an inside track on a bike rack let me know.

Non-Discrimination Policy

On Sunday, June 26, 2011, at our regular June Congregational Meeting the Church of Peace United Church of Christ of Rock Island, Illinois, adopted a non-discrimination policy. This policy does not really represent new thinking at the church, but rather puts it into words suitable for posting for anyone who would want to know about who is eligible for the programs and services of the church. It reads:

The Church of Peace does not discriminate or refuse to offer programs or services to persons on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability."