The Rite Aid Foundation has generously awarded Child Development Inc. a $10,000 grant as part of its 2021 Giving Tuesday grant award. The grant will be used to promote mental wellness and oral health for the center’s children and families.

Child Development Inc. is one of nearly 500 partner charities across the country receiving a Giving Tuesday grant from The Rite Aid Foundation.

The grants are funded through the KidCents customer fundraising program. Rite Aid customers enrolled in KidCents can round up their purchases in-store and online. The Rite Aid Foundation reinvests the customer contributions into local charities and missions to drive community change and support disadvantaged and underserved communities. This year’s total foundation grant allocation was $4.8 million.

“Child Development Inc. shares The Rite Aid Foundation’s caring commitment to creating healthier and more equitable neighborhoods,” said Matthew DeCamara, executive director of The Rite Aid Foundation, a public charity established by Rite Aid in 2001.

“All of our Giving Tuesday grant recipients address the profound realities of racial inequities and health disparities through their own ways and strategies - and have done it during an unprecedented public-health crisis that has significantly interrupted normal programming, fundraising events and daily operations. We’re grateful to support their important work and uplift our neighborhoods together.”

Child Development Inc. is a private, nonprofit corporation (501c3) in good standing with the Department of State since 1982. 2021 marks 56 years that Child Development has been operating in Schuylkill County.

We have a successful history of securing federal, state and local funding to improve access to high-quality programs and better outcomes for children and their families in Schuylkill County.

With a total operating budget of $7,445,388, the center employs 100 full-time and 50 part-time team members.

The center’s mission is to work with families and the community to provide a high quality, comprehensive early childhood education for enrolled children with an emphasis on family engagement and supportive services that prepares each child for success in school and a lifetime of learning.

The center serves 353 pre-school age (3- to 5-year-old) children and their families through the federal and state funded Head Start Program and 271 children and their families through the state funded PA PreK Counts program in eight, STAR 4 designation (highest designation) facilities - three of which are licensed/certified for child care.