By Kimberly Prather, Student Reporter

Some students are taking a service project assignment in their University Seminar class to an all-new level, hoping to bless a child’s life from their service.

Three students hope to raise $1,000 to pay for two children from a low-income family to participate in the City of Abilene’s Summer Playground Program this summer. The program is organized by G.V. Daniels Recreation Center and has been active for more than 30 years.

G.V. Recreation Center Coordinator, Terrence Crisp, 2003 graduate, is helping make this service project become reality.

The students consulted with Crisp and the staff to choose a family with two children that would most benefit from the assistance and chose 11-year-old Tavion Collier and 8-year-old Anissa Barbosa.

The Summer Playground Program has a long-standing tradition of upholding a structured, supervised program that offers similar activities to the after-school program but expanded more to include fun field trips, arts and crafts, indoor and outdoor sports, games and educational classes. While this service is provided free of cost, the Summer Playground Program is not free.

“For many low-income families the services offered are indispensable,” said participant Jasono Iris, freshman social work major from Bermuda.

“Throughout the school year many children spend their afternoons in the City of Abilene After-School program at G.V. Daniels. For many of the families the only other option is to leave their kids at home alone or on the street without any supervision.”

The Summer Playground Program aims to keep children off the streets, and the service project is helping to keep two away from that fate.

“Our purpose is not necessarily to babysit but more to keep children active and having fun,” Crisp said.

Of the $1,000 the students hope to raise, $490 covers the full cost of the program for both children, and the extra $510 gives them each an allowance of $5.10 per day. If excess is raised, the students intend to donate it to the Summer Playground Scholarship fund that is used to provide financial assistance for qualifying families.

“We believe that God calls everyone to use our blessings to bless the lives of others, the ultimate goal of our project is to bless the lives of these two children and their family while glorifying God,” Iris said.

So far, the students have raised $130, and donation jars have been placed in the Campus Store and in the Starbucks in the Library Commons.