The group outside the Illinois Action for Children Early Learning Center in Ford Heights on Friday wielded shovels, cultivators and other tools. They lugged flats of plants, toted sacks of fertilizer and seeds and hauled hoses as they refreshed the landscape outside the facility serving children ages 3 to 5.
Joining the nearly 20 volunteers from Canon Solutions America offices in Burr Ridge and Chicago were parents whose kids attend the center and other community members.
Bryan Stokes, vice president of IAFC’s Early Learning Programs, said beautifying a community space “just helps families feel better about themselves; it encourages people to be part of this community.”
But the event was more than just a makeover.
During orientation, Sari Rubin, IAFC assistant director, corporate and foundation relations, said planting vegetables such as tomato and pepper plants along with the ornamental flowers constituted “an incredible opportunity” to increase the availability of fresh foods at the facility.
Doug Reuter, senior regional sales director at Canon Solutions America, said the volunteer effort if part of the company’s philosophy.
“Instead of supporting sports teams, we try to help people,” he said.
Through the company’s Kyosei Club, employees perform altruistic acts in communities where the firm operates, Reuter said. Past efforts include sorting clothing at an Arlington Heights women’s shelter and packing food at a Schaumburg food bank.
“We work with the customers to find out what’s best,” Reuter said. “Anytime we can work with kids and help them, that’s great.”
More Top Picks Le Male Elixir Jean Paul Gaultier For Men
The presence of the volunteers clearly moved Janet Parker, the Early Learning Center’s site director for the past three years, who said the visitors were the first she’s encountered in her 30 years of working with children.
Stokes said the IAFC has built a relationship with Canon.
“Our goal is to partner with everybody and anybody who can help us serve kids or wants to serve kids,” he said.
Canon’s help Friday was particularly valuable, he said, because Ford Heights as “under-resourced and, I think, forgotten about.”
Stokes said that characterization doesn’t apply within the community. He said he’s seen ample involvement by “parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.
“They’re very invested in the community, but sometimes they can’t afford to volunteer because of schedules that are inflexible or constantly changing,” he said.
IAFC’s Ford Heights Early Learning Center is one of four Head Start programs the Organization operates in Chicago’s south suburbs, serving more than 70 of the community’s highest need children and their families.
