Readiness To Learn Foundation

Volunteer of the Month

We are happy to announce our January Volunteer of the Month, Nick Reitz.

Nick is a 7^th-grader at Langley Middle School. His mother, Mary Michell, also works in the Family Resource Center.

Nick came to us wanting to volunteer at the Back-To-School project and kept going right into Holiday House!

Nick is a tireless worker and cheerful team player. We encourage any student who is interested in volunteering to give us a call. Thank you Nick! You are a welcome addition to the Family Resource Center.

May this be a healthy and prosperous year for all families.

We begin the New Year offering our first family education class of 2012:

Strengthening Families – South Whidbey location

A seven-week fun, and interactive, class geared for parents/caregivers and their 10-14 year old children.

Both parents and children attend each session. Classes begin Thursday, February 9^th, 5:30-8 pm.

A complimentary, light dinner will be offered at 5:30 pm and childcare is available with RSVP to

221-0484.

Strengthening Families.  has been shown to help parents learn nurturing skills that support their children, teach parents/caregivers how to effectively discipline and guide their children, teach both youth and parents to deal with stress and peer pressure while giving youth a healthy future orientation and an increasing appreciation of their parents and caregivers.

Please join us for this wonderful opportunity!   Call 221-0484 to sign up.

Holiday House 2011

This year’s Holiday House was a big success both on South Whidbey as well as Coupeville. Over 300 children were served in each location. A big thank you to all community, individual, volunteer, service club, faith-based, and business owners and employees who contributed to this most-celebrated event.

This project would not be possible without your support!

 Mother Mentors

“Free vital support for families with young children”

 It is a program offered by volunteer women who remember what it is like to be at home with little ones. Do you have a newborn? An older child (or children) and a newborn? Mother Mentors is there to assist! Want to become a Mother Mentor?

The next Mother Mentor’s training day is on Saturday, January 21st from 9:30 AM- 4:30 PM, at the United Methodist Church on Anthes and Third Avenues in Langley, in the Fireside Room

Sign up for the training please call Janet at 341-1442 or 206 972-2420 or email at wamothermentors@gmail.com

Mother Mentors is our newest program under the Readiness To Learn Foundation.

As we enter this holiday season we wish health, happiness, and the making of warm memories for all families here on Whidbey Island and in the Stanwood Camano Island area.

Here at the Readiness To Learn Foundation we are getting ready for the 2011 Holiday House project. This is an event designed to bring the joy of the holidays into the lives of children whose families are struggling with meeting basic needs, and may not have the means to provide presents for their children during the winter holidays. Holiday House is set up like a store, allowing families to shop for, and wrap up, those special things that their children want and need.

Drop Boxes for new, quality, unwrapped gifts and monetary contributions will soon be available in each community. Monetary donations help us keep the shelves stocked with the most popular gifts. Last year donor generosity assisted 313 children in 150 local families with a more festive holiday. We thank you in advance for participating in this annual community event!

Please drop off new and unwrapped toys at the following locations and thank them for supporting their community and helping local families.

Island Drug, Les Schwab Tires, Dalton Realty, Island Athletic Club, Lind’s, Book Bay, Trinity Lutheran Church, W-Fire, CMA Church, Star Store, SWSD Office, American Legion, Neil’s Clover Patch Café, Curves, Christian Life Center, St. Hubert Church, Calvary Chapel, and all bank locations.

For information about how to donate, volunteer or schedule an appointment, please contact us at the Family Resource Center at (360) 221-6808 ext. 4322.   For cash donations our mailing address is PO Box 346 Langley, WA 98260.  Join the fun!

We know how exhausted and overwhelmed parents can feel after the birth of a baby. Today, with so many families geographically dispersed or away at work mothers (and fathers) often do not get the help they need. Mother Mentors was born to bring volunteers and families together to provide physical and emotional support to any family with young children, free of charge. Mother mentors is the extended family for the twenty-first-century!

When Mentors receives a request for service, we match one of our skilled volunteers based on the family’s needs. The mother may need help with simple things like preparing a meal, reading a story to a sibling or simply rocking the baby so mom can shower and rest. No task is too small, but it makes a big difference in the life of the family and the community as a whole. The happier and more stable a family, the healthier our community becomes.

If you would like to receive support yourself as a new parent or volunteer to help call 360-221-0484 or email us at wamothermentors@gmail.com