Concordia College

Cobber Kids Receives United Way Grant

Nov 13, 2008
Cobber Kids is one of seven child care centers and home day cares to receive a new grant through the United Way of Cass-Clay’s Success by 6 initiative. The United Way is investing more than $140,000 in these businesses to help them work toward or renew accreditation and continue to strengthen their curricula.

Cobber Kids received national accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 2006. Director Anita Brandenburg says the center, which opened in 1991, will use the grant for staff training and to purchase digital cameras to document more of the children’s activities to keep parents informed. She says she’s thankful for the money and the United Way’s recognition of the hard work of her staff.

“We’re so excited about that,” she says.

Dean Atchison, chair of the United Way community building committee, commends quality childcare programs for the role they play in children’s development and the lives of families. The new United Way grants will help more programs become accredited – evidence of their meeting exceptional standards. The grants also reflect highly on those caring for the children, he says.

“It’s vital for our child care professionals to be recognized as teachers, caretakers and business professionals,” Atchison says.

Other grant recipients renewing or pursuing accreditation include:

• Our Redeemer Christian Childcare Center
• NDSU Center for Child Development
• YMCA at Calvary
• YWCA Cass Clay
• Brenda Nelson’s Daycare
• Little Explorers Family Daycare

The following programs also received grants:

• Child Care Resource and Referral’s Right from the Start
• Moorhead Community Education’s Pre-School on Wheels

The Success by 6 program focuses on raising awareness of the importance of early childhood development and increasing access to services and child care in Cass and Clay counties.