Help a Child Fall in Love with Tennis

Would you like to engage your child in an activity that will help keep them active and healthy, and that they may enjoy for a lifetime?  If so, the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and the Healthy Richmond Campaign has the program for you. And best of all it’s free!  

     This Saturday, July 28, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the department will teach the exciting new QuickStart Tennis program at the Byrd Park Tennis Complex, located at South Boulevard and Blanton Avenue. This program will demonstrate to adults how they can teach tennis to children younger than age 10.

     QuickStart Tennis, developed by the United States Tennis Association, is a new way to teach children the game of tennis and to get them involved and enjoying the sport from the start. In Saturday’s program, expert instructors with the Richmond and U.S. Tennis Associations and the department’s athletic staff will teach you the skills you need to engage children in tennis using the QuickStart program. This program is perfect for parents, tennis instructors, tennis coaches or anyone who wants to share their love of tennis with children age 10 and younger.

     Space in Saturday’s free workshop is limited, so call 901-5237 to reserve your spot today or for more information.

Cheerleading Jamboree to Showcase 600+ Area Cheerleaders

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will hold its annual Cheerleading Jamboree on Thursday, November 10, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Landmark Theater, located at 6 N. Laurel St.  Approximately 600 cheerleaders from the department’s community centers and area high schools and colleges will perform during the event.

      Tickets for the event are $3 in advance for children 11 and younger and $6 for children 12 and older and adults. Tickets purchased the day of the event are $5 for 11 and younger and $8 for 12 and older and adults. They may be purchased at the Landmark Box Office Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., online at etix.com, or by phone at 1-800-514-3849.

     Seating is general admission and the doors will open at 5 p.m.

‘Let’s Pink’ Breast Cancer Event Set for Nov. 4

The department will hold a breast cancer awareness event and fundraiser called “Let’s Pink” at its Hickory Hill Community Center on Nov. 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  The event will include raffles, visual arts, vendors, food, music, entertainment and much more.

     The mission of Let’s Pink is to merge the vibrancy and artistic minds of Richmond’s youth and young adults with the knowledge and life experience of Richmond’s seasoned generation while raising awareness for breast cancer.

     Local artists and photographers will display interpretive works related to breast cancer at the event and have other works from their collections on sale as well. In addition, Lauren Parker from SLAM, Richmond’s youth poet team, will present pieces created especially for the event, and two guest speakers will discuss their personal journeys with breast cancer and how it has affected them.

     An information table will provide brochures and pamphlets to take home, and a variety of vendors representing health, fitness, beauty and fashion will also participate.

     Donations of $5 are encouraged to attend the event, and all proceeds will go to the Central Virginia Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

     Although no registration is required, you can learn more about the event and sign up to attend, as well as donate, online by visiting LetsPink.EventBrite.com. You can also call 646-8874 or 245-6637 for more information.

      The Hickory Hill Community Center is located at 3000 E. Belt Boulevard. This program is in line with Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ Healthy Richmond Campaign to promote healthy lifestyles for all residents in the city of Richmond.

Children Donate to Help Build Playgrounds

Children in the department's After School Program revealed yesterday that they raised $1,125 to help build playgrounds for children in Haiti and Afghanistan. The children made the announcement after sliding down a sliding board at the George Mason Elementary School Playground.
Each year, children in the program select a charity to support that helps other children and their families somewhere in the world. This year, the children decided to raise funds by selling coupon books for the International Childhood Enrichment Program (ICEP). ICEP notes that while the situations in Haiti and Afghanistan differ vastly, children in both countries have not had the opportunity to experience the spontaneous joy of playing. Building playgrounds gives these young people the opportunity to reclaim their childhood.
Richmond’s Chief Service Officer Paul Manning recognized the children for their donation as well as the After School Program for the values it teaches. “The program not only provides a safe place for children after school; it is grooming future residents and leaders to help Build a Better Richmond and a better world,” he said.
Dr. David B. Jones, a board member of ICEP and a professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Maine, was on hand to also recognize the children and accept the donation.
The department’s licensed After School Program currently serves 500 children at 20 elementary schools. In previous years, children in the program have raised funds to help build a merry-go-round that pumps water in an African village, purchase honey bees and bee hives for needy families to increase their agricultural yields and income, and provide solar cookers for women living in refugee camps in Chad so that they can feed their families and the orphaned children they adopt.
For more information on ICEP or to donate to help build playgrounds, visit
www.icepkidsplay.org.

Children to Reveal Donation to Help Build Playgrounds

WHO: Paul Manning, Chief Service Officer, City of Richmond
David B. Jones, Board Member, International Childhood Enrichment Program, and Associate Professor in Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of Southern Maine
Charles Hester, After School Program Coordinator; Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities, City of Richmond
Children in the Richmond Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities’ After School Program

WHAT: A “Reveal” – After sliding down the sliding board on the school’s
playground, children in the Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’
After School Program will reveal the amount of money they have raised to donate to the International Childhood Enrichment Program to help build safe playgrounds for children in Afghanistan and Haiti.The public is invited to attend.

WHEN: 4 p.m., Thursday, May 19, 2011

WHERE: George Mason Elementary School Playground
813 North 28th Street
(Rain location will be the school cafeteria)

BACKGROUND:
Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities operates an After School Program at 20 elementary schools and a Before School Program at three elementary schools. Each year, children in these programs raise money to donate to a charity that helps other children around the world.
For more information, contact Christy Everson at 804-646-5944 or Tesha Davis at 804-646-3998.

Help Send Richmond's Children to Summer Camp

On Thursday, May 12, you can help send a Richmond child to summer camp, as well as hear some of your favorite music, by contributing to the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ annual Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Radiothon. Residents are asked to call (804) 521-8400 any time between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on May 12 to make a donation to the Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Campaign, and for any donation of $20 or more, the caller can have their favorite song played on KISS 105.7/ 99.3 FM or 92.1 FM. In addition, anyone who makes a donation for the full summer camp fee of $225 will receive two free tickets to the June 4th Stone Soul Music and Food Festival on Brown's Island.
All donations are tax deductable and will help pay for city children to have an exciting and educational summer camp experience. In return, callers will have the satisfaction of knowing that they have made a difference in the life of a Richmond child.
“These funds help us reach children in the city who often have few options for summer activities and need someone in their lives to steer them in the right direction,” said Dr. Carolyn Graham, deputy chief administrative officer for human services. “By donating to the radiothon, you are joining in the city’s efforts to help shape the future for these children and build a better city for all of us,” she said.
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ summer camp program offers nine weeks of structured activities for children ages 6 – 12 on Monday through Friday beginning June 27 and continuing through Aug. 26. Children enrolled in the camp are immersed in fun activities each day that include art and cultural enrichment, health and physical education, science and environmental education, and personal and social development as well as field trips. The camp is offered at 15 department community centers throughout the city and costs $225 per child for city residents; however, donations from the annual radiothon are used to provide scholarships for those who need them. It is part of the department’s promise to make the camp available to and affordable for all children in the city of Richmond.
Contributions to the Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Campaign also can be made on the Enrichmond website at www.enrichmond.org, and checks made payable to Enrichmond/Send-A-Kid-to-Camp can be mailed to 900 E. Broad St., Suite 407, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
The annual radiothon is co-sponsored by the department, Radio One and Enrichmond, a non-profit foundation that partners with community groups to maintain, restore, preserve and improve Richmond’s public recreational resources.
For more information on the annual radiothon, call (804) 646-5733.