DOVER — While picking up fresh produce, shoppers can also help support an after-school program for Dover children.
The Seymour Osman Community Center is teaming with Fiddlehead Farms Marketplace for a holiday fundraiser intended to provide children kindergarten through eighth grade with a safe place to learn and play during after school hours.
Children enrolled in after school programming at the community center have been busy making ornaments to decorate a holiday tree at Fiddlehead's.
Customers can sponsor a child's ornament and place it on the tree.
Ornaments may be sponsored for as little as a dollar and all donations go directly to the center's after school program.
The Seymour Osman Community Center and Youth Safe Haven is a private nonprofit organization affiliated with the Dover Housing Authority. Its primary focus is providing quality after school programming to Dover youth.
The holiday fundraiser is operating for a second year. Last year, the endeavor generated more than $1,500 – which is the cost of staff and materials for two eight-week enrichment programs at the center, or the value of three months' worth of snacks. The money raised keeps program fees minimal for parents who need a safe place for their children to spend the afternoon hours while they work.
"Programs like those offered at the SOCC are vital to the success of our community and its children," said Jennie Halstead, business manager at Fiddlehead Farms. "Through the generosity of our customers we hope that we are able to make a difference in the lives of children in Dover," she said.
The center serves more than 150 children, most of whom are from the surrounding Mineral and Whittier Parks neighborhoods. While at the community center, youth receive age-appropriate academic and life skills support designed to lead them toward success.
"After school programs play a critical role in keeping kids safe, allowing students to practice new skills, and helping parents," says the community center's director of family services Thad Mandsager.
"Programs like ours have the power to impact not only kids' academic and social aptitude, but the overall well-being of the Dover Housing Authority neighborhood as well. Our partnership with Fiddlehead's is emblematic of the way caring community members can contribute to the lives of Dover's families," he said.
The center has several fundraisers during the year, including the Penny Drop, where people can purchase a raffle ticket for a penny for a chance to win prizes donated by area businesses.
Mandsager said while much of the money they receive is through grants, fundraisers are becoming increasingly more important.
The center's youth programs are supported by funds from the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, and United Way of the Greater Seacoast, among other sources.
For more information, please contact the SOCC at 749-6692.
