The Taylorville Kiwanis Club heard about the Christian County Head Start program, during their weekly luncheon Tuesday at the club’s new meeting place, the Taylorville Moose Lodge.

Guest speaker was Nicole Gardewine from the Effingham office of C-E-F-S Community Action Partnership, that serves a 7-county area including Christian, to share with Kiwanis members about the Christian County Head Start program.

The local Kiwanis Club provides coats, hats, and gloves to the local Head Start children every year.

Gardewine said the Taylorville Head Start program has 2 classes with 36 children that attend each day, getting experiences many of them don’t get at home such as reading, computer stations, writing tables, and hands-on learning.  She added the goal is to get pre-school children in the program ready for kindergarten.

Gardewine added Head Start children’s progress is monitored the entire time they’re in the program so what they’re learning.  She also said that C-E-F-S also provides an in-home program to about 30 early Head Start families in the Taylorville area, to improve their home environment.

Gardewine told the Kiwanis Club that the local Head Start program also provides bus transportation to the children each day.  

The Head Start program is one of several federally-funded programs provided to low-income residents of the 7 counties that C-E-F-S Community Action Partnership serves.

The Taylorville Kiwanis Club is part of global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time.  Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at noon at their new meeting location, the Taylorville Moose Lodge.  For information on the club, go to taylorvillekiwanis.com.