But the little ones, their teachers, and their parents know that pre-school is often an incredibly challenging time that marks profound growth and development as children are taken out of the context of their family unit and begin to learn how to interact with the rest of the world around them.
Programa Velasco was founded on and continues to live out a mission inspired by the idea that early education for disadvantaged children can have a profound impact on the future of society. We’ve talked about the science and economics behind it—our brains are most apt to learn and develop during this period, and abilities gained in early childhood go on to affect future behavior and achievement. We’ve also tried to convey the importance that our programming has in El Salvador, where few public options exist for families to take advantage of high-quality initiatives that will provide a head-start for their children. And of course, we’ve highlighted the pure joy many of the kids exude during their every-day activities.
Those are just some of our reasons for supporting early childhood education. Through our #MeetMeMonday series, we plan to introduce you to 50 more reasons – living, breathing children in El Salvador who give us hope for the future and remind us every day why we are making a worthy investment. The community we work with faces so many challenges, and youth most of all: the threat of gangs, multiple manifestations of violence, migration and its impact on broken families. We know we are contributing to the next generation of Salvadorans who will have received a special dose of love and support in their early years that will impact them the rest of their lives.
That’s why we say YES to early education, and why we thank YOU for supporting our mission. This Wednesday, we will be hosting a special Giving Day where 100% of donations will go directly to support our programming. We’ve even got some special donors who will be making a dollar for dollar match up to an amount we will reveal in the upcoming days.
We want to THANK YOU for taking the time to support these children: please know you are making a difference! In case you’d like to help us get started with fundraising, you can make an online donation here. All of your support, starting now, will go toward programming for children and families.
Do check back with us on Wednesday, June 15th to spread the word to others who might want to #LendAHelpingHand and make a difference in the life of a child!
