West Kelowna – Some of the best skills we learn in life may come from the time we spent in our sandboxes.

Today young children in West Kelowna were playing in a sandbox at the Family Resource Program and Parent Talk with people from their community who care about their healthy growth and development.

Approximately 60 people of all ages were celebrating children at a special Milk and Cookie event sponsored by the Central Okanagan Teachers’ Association.

Children’s Champion, Shannon Poeschek, with the Westside Parent Participation Preschool, raised her glass of milk and toasted the future of our children and the important role they play in building a healthy community.

This toast marked the important announcement Success By 6 was making which kicks off enhancements to the existing family resource program facilitated by The Bridge Youth & Family Services at Westbank United Church.

The Family Resource Program and Parent Talk is a positive parenting education and support group for families with children 6 years of age or less. This program provides universally accessible weekly drop-in sessions at no-cost to families who live in the District of West Kelowna and neighboring communities. The program’s goal is to increase parenting capacity through awareness and access to community resources by providing opportunities for information sharing, referrals, and peer mentorship. The program is lead by a qualified Parent Support Facilitator with the help of a Program Assistant and community volunteers. Local guest speakers are regularly invited to present on topics of interest to young families.

The enhancement of this program is made possible through a unique table of investors called FRED. The Funding Really Early Development partnership is a funders table established by United Way’s Success By 6 initiative that is fostering mutually beneficial funding partnerships for high impact early childhood development programs in Central Okanagan.

According to Harry Grossmith, United Way CEO, “It just makes sense for funders to be collaborating. By pooling our time, energy, and resources we can create a high return on our social investments.”

Dennis Dandeneau, from The Bridge Youth & Family Services, agrees “I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the FRED investors, for providing us with an opportunity to enhance our work aimed at helping children and youth become healthy adults. The generous contribution from them will support positive parenting knowledge and skills for all parents and their children who live in this community!”

Anyone wanting more information on the West Kelowna Family Resource Program and Parent Talk is encouraged to call The Bridge Youth & Family Services at 250-763-0456 or visit www.thebridgeservices.ca.