The Hillsdale County Community Foundation is hosting the 2022 Great Give aimed at encouraging all of Hillsdale County to give to local non-profits on one specific date – November 29th. The Hillsdale County Great Start Collaborative (GSC) is excited to be participating in this event again this year. All GSC’s across the State of Michigan are tasked with working to improve the following for county children and families:
1. Children are born healthy.
2. Children are healthy, thriving, and developmentally on track from birth to third grade.
3. Children are developmentally ready to succeed in school at time of school entry.
4. Children are prepared to succeed in fourth grade and beyond by reading proficiently by the end of third grade.
Locally, you can see or have seen our work through events like: Community Baby Shower, Story Walk, PLAY (Parents Learning About Young Children) Events, Talking is Teaching Opportunities, Preschool Connect, Literacy Pop Ups, and Parent Meetings. One of the important things to note about Great Start Collaborative events is there are no eligibility requirements. All opportunities are provided free of charge and are open to any family with young children residing in Hillsdale County. We pride ourselves on providing opportunities for children to select a free book to take home from events. Literacy is a significant concern in Hillsdale County with only 30.4% of 3rd graders reading proficiently according to the most recent M-STEP (Michigan Student Test of Education Progress) data.
Over the course of a year, the GSC disseminates just over 1,700 books (between events where children select their own book and Books for Babies bags disseminated through Hillsdale Hospitals’ Birthing Center and the WIC office at the Branch Hillsdale St Joseph Community Health Agency). The average cost of a children’s book is around $5 Our targeted goal this year of $8,500 will raise enough funds to support our book purchases for an entire year!
