The Black Child and Family Institute (BCFI) Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom School – a Lansing-based community center designed to address social, educational and health related issues among children and families in the community celebrated the end of its six-week summer enrichment program last Thursday. Two of our interns, Nailah Ali and Jared Kissane, were on hand to join students, parents, teachers, partners, sponsors, board members and more for the celebration.
To emphasize the need for child enrichment in the community, the BCFI collaborated with theChildren’s Defense Fund (CDF) by adopting a CDF Freedom School summer and after school enrichment program to advocate for children in the Lansing community. This program – which serves 60 K-5th grade students – aims to instill a love for reading, math and science in children while building their self-esteem, and developing a more positive attitude toward learning.
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that works to ensure an equal playing field for all children. The CDF has developed policies and programs to help children out of poverty, protect them from abuse and neglect and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation.
The celebration featured a Harambee session to motivate the crowd and the children, skits based on books the children read throughout the program, a performance highlighting First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign and the importance of healthy living, guest speaker and BCFI CDF Freedom school partner, Brett Kascinski, Director of Parks and Recreation in Lansing and more. At the end of the program each child received a brand new backpack filled with school supplies to prepare them for the upcoming school year.
Check out some of the shots captured at the event. Enjoy!
