ALEXANDRIA AWARDS GRANTS TO UNSUNG PANDEMIC HEROES

The Kiwanis Club of Alexandria awarded grants to 39 city childcare providers that stayed open and operating during the coronavirus pandemic. The grants were presented at an April 1 luncheon.

These grants are intended to recognize childcare professionals who remained on the job providing childcare to essential workers and others. The workers often put their own health concerns on the backburner.

“This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to our city’s many unsung heroes, the childcare workers who put their own health concerns aside to provide childcare to essential workers during the height of COVID,” said Kiwanis Club of Alexandria President Charles Augustine. “We want to thank them for taking care of the city’s children during a very dark time.”

A total of $32,400 was awarded, grants ranging from $800 to family day home providers to $1,200 for childcare centers. These providers employed 310 childcare professionals during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and served 1,384 children.

The grants were the culmination of a year-long fundraising campaign launched in 2021 on the occasion of the club’s 100th anniversary.