Helping At Risk Children in the
District
Since 2004, our Church has provided assistance to
at-risk children through a partnership with the Marie H. Reed Community
Learning Center, a public elementary school located at 18th Street and
Kalorama Road in DC. The Church has supported this school by
providing: readers to improve reading skills of the students and
tutoring in subjects beyond reading, assistance in test preparation,
books, winter clothing, furniture, musical support for musical
education at the school, money for students to go to summer camp, and
other financial support. The Church has also encouraged law firms
and other organizations to become involved with Marie Reed. These
organizations have provided readers to work with the students on their
reading skills, lap top computers, printers, desk chairs, and file
cabinets, among other things. This is a successful and rewarding
outreach activity of the Church.
In the March, 2007, Miles Batson, candidate for the rank
of Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 52, conducted his Eagle project at
Marie Reed. With the assistance of his Troop and Westmoreland Church,
he was able to clean out, raise $4000 and buy new furniture for the
library, and set it all up. Help a child at the center learn to read,
and you can see the results of this fantastic project yourself!
You do not have to adopt a child to make a difference in a child’s
life. If you are interested in helping a child who needs help,
please contact the Church about participating in this program. For
more information on the center, please visit their website: http://www.k12.dc.us/schools/Reed/.
Below are some photos of Westmorelanders at work at the
center. Click on any image for a larger view.
| Before the project began... |
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| ...it looked like this. |
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| Miles arrived with his crew... |
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| ...and gave everyone their marching orders. |
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| Cleaning. |
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| Hauling. |
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| All this is waiting for pickup. |
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| The new space looks great! |
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