Our Purpose
Chester County Children's Foundation is committed to bridging the gap between home and school for children in need. We raise funds and engage communities to provide meals, support our summer camps, and sponsor our after school programs.
Our Initiatives
Making a Difference
Summer Camps
Summer creates a huge opportunity gap for children. Many children whose parents cannot afford quality daycare or summer camp languish at home in the summer while their better resourced peers enjoy trips, museums, nature, and more. All of these experiences make children better prepared for school, especially reading, because the experiences give them the background knowledge children need for reading comprehension. We work to provide the same kind of enriching summer experiences for children in need that their peers already enjoy.
We also provide summer meals. Many students rely on free breakfast and lunch during the school year and may go hungry or at least be poorly nourished in the summer months. This allows our children to grow and learn while they play.
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After School Programs
When the school day ends many children go to dance classes, sports clinics, piano lessons, etc. Children living in poverty do not. They are left home (often alone or in the care of their siblings) with no access to enriching activities or even help with their homework.
In our after school programs we close the gap between school and home by providing safe, supervised and enriching activities to children in need where they can explore their talents and interests just like their more resourced peers.
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Literacy Promotion
"Recognizing the links between book ownership and broader life outcomes, increasing book ownership may be seen as a matter of social justice." - National Literacy Trust
Educators are well aware of the concept of the "summer slide" in which children with few resources lose the ground they gained in their reading skills during the school year.
Why? Because like any other skill, reading takes practice and confidence builds competence. It is common for children living in poverty to have no access to books during the summer. Their families often do not own books and they are not able to go libraries.
Did you know a predictor of successful grade level reading is the number of books in a child's home? One study showed that if children get to own 10 self-selected books at the beginning of each summer the positive effect size can be as great enough to close the achievement gap. (Allington, 2024)
So we work to get books into the hands of children. Books they can own and love.
Our Programs
From 50 US dollars
