Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer's, story on August 8th gave a broad overview of the damage done to state-funded Child-care agencies, and what staff and administrators at CCCC are well aware of, that if state monies are not released soon we may have to close down operations. (See full text of her article at : http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-childcare8aug08,1,4042651.story )

For that reason CCCC Executive Director Susan McGuire called a press conference recently to explain that CCCC has not been paid for any of the services we have provided since July 1, 2007. "Up until now we were able to use our lines of credit and a loan from the bank to stay open but there is not much money left." she wrote in a letter distributed to staff and families. Fees for these loans, increasing with every payroll, will of course be taken from our years already very tight budget.

"We will do everything possible to stay open." she went on. "I urge you to call your legislators and tell them to approve a budget and also tell them how you would be affected if the center has to close for awhile."

Local legislator - Sam Aanestad - (one of the 14 Republican legislators holding up the budget process) can be reached by phoning (530)470-1846.

His mailing address is

200 Providence Mine Rod.
Suite 108, Nevada City, CA 95959

You can also send him comments on his website at http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/4/. Go to "feedback" and tell him how you would be affected.

Interested people can also send comments to the governor at http://gov.ca.gov and selecting "interact".

Please urge for an executive order ensuring that those Californians who depend on vital state services are not harmed because the legislature is not able to pass a budget.

Video interviews with Susan and other staff appeared several times over two days on local TV channels 12 and 24.

We will post some of those interviews on our web site when they become available.

Once the concrete is smooth and groved the color is added.
More grovy stuff now happening in the Toddler Yard
Meanwhile the Toddler track gets some texture before the cement hardens too much.
Finally, on Monday morning, the forms are removed and the site is cleared up.

Pictures tell the story of how the Chico Community Children's Center got a make over at the Eaton Center last June. Kids got two new circular sidewalks to ride their bikes on.

Installing the forms

200 feet of hose to pump the concrete through just makes it to the far end.

The crew works the concret as it pumps through the hose. They work steadily until the Pre-School sidewalk is pored.

Then most of the crew moves to the Toddler yard to repeat the process.

Now time to install the groves.

Claudia, the Center Cook, gathers greens from the children's garden for lunch. The kids have been busy planting corn, beans, squash, radishes, and cucumbers. They have been sampling the Strawberries, Blackberries, mint, onions.

Chico Community Children’s Center (CCCC, a 501(c)3 non-profit,) is appealing to local artists who wish to support local charities. We are offering three ways for artists to participate in our Music, Magic, & Art Fundraiser at the Sierra Nevada Big Room on Friday, March 2nd at 6:00pm.

1.100% Donation to CCCC

2.50/50 Split between Artist and Chico Community Children’s Center of winning bid in the Silent Auction.

3.50/50 Split between Artist and Chico Community Children’s Center of set price.

We hope that this policy leads to the Music, Magic, & Art event becoming known to patrons and artists as a valuable venue for public presentation and purchase of quality artistic work.

Chico Community Children’s Center will be accepting submissions until February 23rd. Artists who contact us prior to that date will have their names featured in the event program. Please contact us ASAP so that we will know how much space will be needed.

Please consider a donation. Please pass this on. The flier for the event is attached. For more information about the event, you can contact us at (530) 891-5363.

Chico Community Children’s Center 2224 Elm Street Chico, CA 95928 Ph: 891-5363

Chico Community Children's Center is hosting its second “Music, Magic, & Art” dinner and fundraiser on March 2nd at the Sierra Nevada Big Room.

One fanatastic evening! Tickets only $35.00. Available at Terrace Pharmacy, Cafe Flo, & Creative Apple, or call 891-5363.

I wanted to Thank everyone who came to our Halloween Carnival, October 13th at the Eaton Center.

The turn out was Awesome!!! The teachers did a superb job of putting it all together. We had alot of raffel prizes and cakes to give away.

Our Haunted house was a big hit. The ballon popping was fun and the fishing game was a blast!
Our goal was made! Yeah!

Note: We are going to Book Family Farm on Thursday October 19th. Expect the kids to have a great time.

Again I want to thank everyone who make events like these possible.

Tanya

This story comes from "Environment California" at the web site: <http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/html/newsletters/fall06/article2.html>;

Tests show that pesticides are found in higher concentrations at day care facilities than in the average home. This fact is particularly alarming because children’s hand to mouth behavior, rapid rate of development, and low ability to neutralize toxic substances leave them particularly vulnerable to permanent damage from toxins.

Pesticides can cause a range of health problems, especially for young children. They can interact with the endocrine system and cause devel-opmental problems, including altered social skills, learning disabilities, developmental delays and hyperactivity. In addition to links to chronic health effects, such as immune deficiency and cancer, pesticides are known to cause acute symptoms, such as headaches and respiratory irritation.

One California study found that children exposed to any pesticide in their first year of life were more than twice as likely to

A strange visitor stopped by the parking lot at the Elm Street Center today.

Chico Community Children's Center successfully secured a $2,000.00 grant from the Kokoro Foundation for technology development. With those funds we have been able to upgrade our