We are happy to be back at ASAP for another fun year! This year we have made some adjustments to our schedule! We have taken out the "homework hour"! Instead, we are focusing our program goals on providing a safe place for kids to hang out with their friends! We will still have access to the kids' missing assignments, and we are always there to help the kids with their homework or any other aspect of middle school life if needed!
We are also changing from a dinner to a snack model, where we will have popcorn and snacks available all day every day for the kids to eat, and on Wednesdays we will be making a dinner with the kids so they will eat a meal on Wednesdays!
We will continue to offer crafts, games, some outdoor time, a couple of walking field trips, and some virtual field trips! We are also going to continue to encourage people from our community to come and share their jobs and hobbies with the kids! We want the kids to learn about being "In community" with each other and what that looks like as they get older! If you have a skill or hobby that you would like to share, please reach out so we can schedule a time for you! We want to have as many people sharing with the kids as we can get!
We are very excited to continue our partnership with the Mt Angel Abbey and the Seminarians this year! We have 2 new Seminarian students with us, JuanPablo and Robert will be hanging out with us each Thursday! This has been a very positive and valuable connection and the kids have a lot of fun interacting with them!
We are going to have a new theme each month starting in October, with Harvest. Also a virtue to go with each theme. October's virtue will be "Patience". We will have activities and food and fun that is connected to the theme of the month!
The main reason we are able to offer this program to the kids is because of our incredibly generous community and the support we get from everyone! We have several fundraisers throughout the year, and We will be sending out information about the fundraisers to you often, in hopes that you will not only support ASAP financially, but also attend the fundraisers and be a part of the fun! We are implementing a "Coin Bank' this year, kids will recieve a coin each day they are at ASAP, and will be able to spend those coins at the end of the year kids shop for cool stuff! Last year we had gift cards, tech stuff, speakers, headphones, craft supplies, and things that the kids requested as items they would like to purchase! The kids will also get opportunities to earn extra coins by solving a weekly riddle, and by offering to volunteer at the fundraisers. This allows the kids to be a part of the main thing that creates a successful program - COMMUNITY! The kids will be decorating a "Coin Bank" that they can keep their coins in and will be able to bring home at the end of the year!
We are so grateful to Immanuel Lutheran Church - their unending generosity has allowed us to use their building and have a well rounded program. We could not do what we are doing without them! If you see Pastor Leah or Pastor Manuel, or any of the faithful members of Immanuel, please thank them! We do often!
We have a great group of volunteers that have been with us for many years, faithfully serving on our board, participating in cooking and serving meals to the kids for 12 years, bringing food and snacks, running fundraisers and just being a positive voice for our program in the community! They are literally the backbone of ASAP! Currently we are down some positions on the board. If you feel like you could contribute 10 hrs or less per month to our program, consider joining us! The board meetings are once a month and last no longer than 2 hrs., and the rest of the hours consist of volunteering to help at events or at special program times. We cannot have ASAP without volunteers!
Our first Fundraiser of the year is on October 22, it's called SHARE THE HARVEST, at Immanuel Lutheran Church from 5 to 7pm. It is a soup and bread dinner with a pottery auction! There will be music and fun had by all! Tickets are a suggested $5/person or $15/family, and the proceeds will be split between ASAP, ARK (At Risk Kids), and the Snack Sack Program for SACA. Below is the flyer for the event! Kids will be asked to help bus dishes and serve water. If they are able to help they will earn additional coins, and need to be available from 4:30 to 7:30pm. Our next Fundraiser will be in February, our annual Chili Cook-Off!! Look for more information on that in the next couple of months!
A couple of things for the month of October - we will be having a Halloween party for the kids on Thursday, October 26th during program time! ASAP will be closed on Tuesday October 31st, so that kids can participate in the community events like the Goblin walk downtown and the Trunk or Treat at the Methodist Church, and trick or treat with their family and friends!
We will send out a monthly parent newsletter and have a new update as needed here on our blog. We encourage parents to reach out to us and stay in touch! We are here to support your kids in any way we can! Thank you for sharing your kids with us, and we are ready to have a FUN year!
