By Katie Wilson
WHITE HALL — Middletown Mall was full of laughter and joy Thursday during the annual Lights On Afterschool event.
Each year, the county’s multiple after-school programs get together for one night to showcase their benefits and let the community know what they do and why it’s important.
Last year, more than 500 people signed in, and this year was poised to be even bigger, with 22 local organizations signed up to participate.
A large number of booths were set up throughout the mall offering information on a host of services, from prenatal care to tobacco-free programs.
The FBI was on hand for fingerprinting, and Amberview was on hand to sign children up and take their photos. Amberview is a program created and administered by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation that provides up-to-date, three-dimensional photos of children to accompany an Amber Alert.
Parents were led around by children, eager to introduce the after-school volunteers and show off what they’d learned.
Families from all over Marion County were present and they all had one thing in common: The children have so much fun at after-school programs, they don’t want to come home.
Jack Sindledecker has a daughter enrolled in the Boys and Girls Club at East Park Elementary. She doesn’t want to come home when after school time is over, he said.
“It’s just a great program,” he said. “I live across the street from East Park and I’ve watched it grow from just a few kids; now they have a waiting list.”
Sindledecker’s older son participated in the program as well, so when the opportunity came for his daughter, he took it.
“I’ve seen her grades go up,” he said.
Stacey Harvey said her children don’t want to go home either. With a third-grader and a first-grader, she’s had a child in the East Park program for four years now, and she’s raving about the wonders of the program.
“It gives me peace of mind,” Harvey said. “They’re in a fun and safe environment, and they encourage kids to do their homework, respect others, eat healthy and do their best.”
E-mail Katie Wilson at kwilson@timeswv.com.
