News Releases

News Release: July 6, 2009

Media Contact: Mike Andrei Director of College Relations [716] 839 8472

For further information: Cheryl Bird Executive Director Center for Sustainable Communities & Civic Engagement [716] 839-8489

 

Daemen Offering Summer Reading Camps to Students in Seneca Babcock and Fruit Belt Neighborhoods Through Support From Local Foundations

Daemen College is again offering summer reading camps to low-income youth in Buffalo's Fruit Belt and Seneca Babcock neighborhoods. This year, approximately 150 youth will participate in the two-week camps, which are designed to boost literacy levels and assist students with serious reading deficiencies.

Daemen's Center for Sustainable Communities and Civic Engagement (CSCCE) and the Thomas Reynolds Center for Special Education and After-School Programs at Daemen (The Reynolds Center) are collaborating with community organizations on the camps. The theme for the year's camps is "Earth in Our Hands."

The camps are being made possible, in part, through grants from The Josephine Goodyear Foundation Fund and The Children's Foundation of Erie County. The Providence Fund is also providing assistance for the Fruit Belt Reading Camp.

The camps will take place Monday-Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. - noon in each neighborhood. The Fruit Belt reading camp runs from July 6-16, 2009, at St. John Baptist Church and The Aloma D. Johnson Fruit Belt Charter School. The Seneca Babcock reading camp will take place July 20-30 2009, at Seneca Street Church in Seneca Babcock.

"This program fills a vital need for students in Seneca Babcock and the Fruit Belt. There are many students struggling with serious reading deficiencies in both neighborhoods," noted Cheryl Bird, Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities and Civic Engagement. "Daemen has been assisting students in Seneca Babcock through after-school programs for over 10 years - and the reading camps are a valuable addition. One very positive result is that we are seeing a higher high school graduation rate among students there now.

"Our partnership with residents of the Fruit Belt was initiated in 2004, and our goal there is the same: to provide assistance to make it possible for more young people to lead successful lives."