Fundraiser benefits local Miss Ruby's Kids
Published on 5/9/2008
By Clayton Stairs
cstairs@gtowntimes.com
Early literacy is the mission of Miss Ruby's Kids, a home visitation program for 2- and 3-year-old children in families that have had limited exposure to educational opportunities and activities. The program currently assists 34 local children and plans to assist 40 children in the next school year.
Miss Ruby's Kids held a very successful garden party at the home of Clary and Doris Dawson overlooking the Waccamaw River in the Prince George community last Sunday. This event, with the theme "Growing Miss Ruby's Kids," raised approximately $20,000 for the program.
"The event itself just turned out beyond our dreams," said Jo Fortuna, chair of the Board of Directors. "We are just so excited that this second year is better than the first year -- and the first year was stellar."
During the event, attendees had the opportunity to bid in a silent auction on 35 trays built by Larry Smith with designs created by local artists. They also enjoyed live music by the Coastal Carolina University Flute Ensemble directed by Amy Tully, sampled hors d'oeuvres catered by Puttin' on the Grits and learned about the history of the Waccamaw River from historian Lee Brockington.
Carol Smith, a volunteer with Miss Ruby's Kids who is on the resources and development committee, says that this and other events are very important to raise awareness about this caring organization.
"I think it is special that we are getting people involved who are interested in education for young children," Smith said. "Support for this organization will allow preschool children to have more opportunities and to have a chance at life."
Joan Kreikemeier, who has been a member of Miss Ruby's Kids for four years, attended the event. She says that it is very rewarding to be part of this organization.
"Helping these young children, who are ages 2 and 3, to get the right start in life makes all the difference," Kreikemeier said. "The way out of poverty is definitely through education."
Carl Falk, who is the chair of the Teach My People Board of Directors, and his wife, Marsha Falk, who is involved with Miss Ruby's Kids, say these two organizations are now working together. Teach My People is an afterschool program for at-risk youth.
"We see Miss Ruby's Kids as a bridge to Teach My People, so it is very much the same young people, but at different ages," Carl Falk said. "Since one group is a feeder group for the other, we really try to work in concert. What we want to do is make sure that these different groups work in unison and compliment
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one another so there is no overlap at all, just the same team trying to help the same constituents"
Marsha Falk adds that as of last year, the relationship between these two organizations has become much tighter.
"Children (from Miss Ruby's Kids) are automatically identified before they go to first grade," Marsha Falk said. "If they've been through that program and if they live in our school district, they automatically go to Teach My People."
Fortuna says that she was pleased with the turnout for the event and the effort which was evident by the colorful display of artistically designed trays.
"I am just amazed at the breadth of the styles represented and the imaginations of the artists," Fortuna said. "In a lot of cases, the artists wove their work in with our theme, 'Growing Miss Ruby's Kids.'"
She says that one artist, Bob Jones allowed his grandchildren to work on the tray with him, which was very appropriate for this event.
All in all, she feels this was a very successful event for their organization. She states that the community needs programs like Miss Ruby's Kids to provide a foundation for these children to be on par with their peers.
"Families in crisis often don't have the resources to do what needs to be done to provide their children with a head start on school," Fortuna said. "We hope that this is exponential. It is not just the few out of the 300 every year that we know would qualify for our program, but in the future, these children will teach their children, and so on."
About the organization
According to their official Web site, Miss Ruby's Kids is an early literacy program for Georgetown County families. The program was named in honor of Mrs. Ruby Forsythe, who together with her husband, and then alone after his death, ran a one-room school in Pawleys Island for 55 years on the campus of Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church.
Miss Ruby's Kids enables parents lacking in resources to become their children's first, best teacher by promoting literacy skills, and so increases their childrens' chances of success in school and in life. It is estimated that 84 percent of the children who complete the program will go on to graduate from high school.
This local program is a replication of the Parent-Child Home Program, a research-based literacy and parenting program in existence for many years. There are 150 replication sites in this country and nine international sites.
For more information about Miss Ruby's Kids, visit their Web site at www.missrubyskids.net, or call the office at 843-527-8560.
The office is located at 829 Front Street, Suite E, in Georgetown. Miss Ruby's Kids will hold a graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m. at Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church on Wood Street in Georgetown.
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