Happy Birthday!

Birthday celebrations will officially take place Saturday, Sept. 26 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Centre’s 503A Main Street location.

New Centre director Terri Harding says all are welcome to join the festivities. “We’re going to have free hot dogs and cake as well as games and activities for children.”

Two people integral to the Centre’s founding in the late ‘80s, Bette Salsmann, Department of Community Services, and Judith Gates, former Pastor of the Kentville Baptist Church, and other dignitaries will be present. But Harding says the formal presentation will be short. “We want to allow the children to enjoy the day, too.”

Meeting community needs

Harding says the Centre offers a number of programs open to families and children, from pre-natal classes to school readiness programs to adult personal development. Satellite programs run also in Canning, Avonport and Greenwood. “We encourage proactive, healthy family development,” Harding says. “We try to help wherever we’re needed.”

One of the newer ways in which the Family Resource Centre has been helping families is as a provincially regulated Family Home Day Care agency. Since January, the centre has been able to help parents connect with monitored home daycare providers.

Families from all walks of life use the centre, she notes. Some of the more popular programs are “Baby and Me,” a group for new mothers; “Tots and Tales”; “Let’s Get Together Playgroup,”; a school readiness program; a toy lending library, and more. “We also have a parenting group where parents can gather to talk about topics,” she added. Onsite childcare is provided for some programs.

Harding is full of praise for her seven staff members. “It’s one of the reasons I’m there; it’s just a wonderful working team. You have to see it to believe just how much everyone cares.”

New families are welcome. Harding says participating at the centre is a good way to meet other families, “to make connections and have a little break.”

For more information on the Kings County Family Resource Centre and its programs, call 678-5760 or family.centre@ns.sympatico.ca.