CRADLES encourages GIFT donations

To the editor:

The CRADLES of Clay County Board of Directors is most grateful for the donations and support from individuals, organizations, agencies, churches and foundations. These generous donations have made it possible to open the CRADLES site in Clay City and for preparations to open the Brazil site this fall.

CRADLES of Clay County, Inc. is a family learning ministry dedicated to Cultivating Responsible Adults by Developing Leadership, Education and Self-sufficiency (CRADLES). This ministry envisions student parents taking their place in local communities as self-sufficient citizens within healthy family units. CRADLES will support student parents pursuing an education by providing developmentally appropriate childcare, parenting/life skills, training and mentoring. As we offer support, sponsorship and mentoring, we believe the lives of the babies and children served, as well as their parents, will be touched, enriched and changed.

CRADLES has been most fortunate to be the recipient of two generous grants from the Terre Haute Day Nursery Fund and the Clay County Community Foundation (CCCF), an affiliate of the Wabash Valley Community Foundation. Because of these grants and other donations CRADLES was able to open in Clay City on Nov. 10 and provided limited services in Brazil beginning on March 31. Through both programs, parents were able to improve their basic skills in order to help their children with homework. Some earned their high school diplomas, passed the High School Equivalency (HSE) Exam or earned an associate's degree -- developing into an educated workforce. Others became employed or continued their employment.

Lilly Endowment, Inc.'s GIFT VI Initiative will enable many more projects; including CRADLES, as well as a performance center in Clay City's Goshen Park, a transportation van for the county's senior residents, recreational trails throughout the county and others too numerous to mention, to continue to make Clay County a better place to live. This initiative will match $1-for-$1 donations of any amount made to the Clay County Community Foundation for a new or existing unrestricted endowment fund. Due to this matching opportunity, individuals can create new unrestricted funds in their families' names for only $2,500.

The CRADLES Board of Directors encourages everyone to take advantage of this special matching opportunity and make a donation to the Clay County Community Foundation in order to double your GIFT and improve the lives of Clay County citizens. Regardless of the amount of your gift, it will make a difference!