News & Notes: February 2018
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February was a busy month for us at CAC! Taking a trip to the farm, celebrating retirement, making volcanoes erupt, and inspiring future nonprofit leaders were just a few of the things to highlight. Keep reading for a full update!
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February is Heart Health Month!
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CAC's Ms. Margie and Ms. Felinda (Health Educator/Advocate and Family Advocate) hosted the February's Ladies' Day Luncheon.
The theme was "Healthy Hearts", and 34 ladies from our community enjoyed a presentation called 'High Blood Pressure - The Silent Killer'. Everyone enjoyed a heart healthy lunch of
salad, low sodium homemade chicken chili and vegetable soup, whole wheat muffins and a dark chocolate candy for dessert.
Lunch was
followed by a rousing game of Health Bingo and a promise to get healthy and check our blood pressures! This event wrapped up a larger month long focus with our kids on the importance of heart health.
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Trains, tractors, & so much more...
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Although these pictures don't quite encapsulate the whole extent of the trip, it shows a couple of things we were able to do. A group from Ahoskie, NC visited CAC for a week long trip in August of last year. In talking, we started to brainstorm a time to host a retreat with their youth group. At that point the Ski Trip was born and took place January 11th-15th. We met in Blowing Rock, NC to hit the mountains of the Appalachian Ski Resort. This was the first time that any of our kids had been skiing.....
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This past month we were blessed to host students from the
George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. Our Executive Director Rev. Chet Cantrell spoke with the group about
nonprofit leadership, organizational growth, and community building. We're proud to have this sort of partnership with the #2 program in the country of its kind!
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What do CAC kids know about God's love?
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Our child sponsorship program is one of the best ways to become part of a child's life and directly impact the programming that they receive. Hear from three of our children who are in need of sponsors in this month's edition of "And now a word from us kids!"
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You don't have to own a dump truck to help us build a park!
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You don't have to own heavy machinery in order to help us bring Olivette Park to fruition! Join us on Saturday, April 28th for the Olivette Park Ultra-- a series of races around our 23 acre property that will help us raise funds and awareness of our "A Place to Grow" campaign! We will have 1 hour, 6 hour, 12 hour, and 12 hour relay race options.
Learn more about how you can participate at
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STEM Night may have been a little messy...
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...but that's alright! It's hard to contain Diet Coke and Mentos volcanic explosions!
CAC is a ministry of place, and we strive to be a place where the kids in our care can develop their spiritual and educational foundations. Recently we held a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) night with multiple stations for kids to learn more about chemical reactions, static electricity, computer assembly, and more! Fun was had by all!
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We wish you the best Ms. Sally!
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It is with both happy and heavy hearts that we are announcing Ms. Sally’s retirement from CAC at the end of April. Ms. Sally has been an exceptional member of our CAC family for more than 25 years, first starting in 1990 as a volunteer leading our Kids for Christ program, and then, for the last 10 years, as a staff member developing and directing our Child Sponsorship program.
Her outstanding work and the level of love, attention, and guidance she provides to our kids, staff, and everyone she touches at CAC is truly immeasurable; it cannot be adequately described in a just a few words.
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Her outstanding work and the level of love, attention, and guidance she provides to our kids, staff, and everyone she touches at CAC is truly immeasurable; it cannot be adequately described in a just a few words. Ms. Sally’s demonstration of faith, as she “Walks the Walk” is a rare thing in our world today and is clearly evident in everything she does – the light of Jesus shines bright with her as she guides our kids toward the right path.
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. – Proverbs 22:6
Please join us in congratulating her on this next chapter of her life, wherever that may lead her. Maybe she’ll take up mountain climbing or hang gliding; maybe she’ll spend some time relaxing on her sun porch; or maybe she’ll choose to volunteer in the Kids for Christ program at an after-school program in East St. Louis.
Please note, Ms. Sally assures me that she is not going away. She is simply retiring. If you would like to send Ms. Sally a note, she can be reached at sally.horstmann@cacesl.org.
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Former CAC Board chair and always cleanly shaven Steve Street (Vice President of Clayco) accepted a company Christmas party challenge to grow his beard. His condition was that money be put on the line: every thousand dollars raised bought a month of beard growth. If his goal of $4000 was met, he would wear his kilt to work. As you can see, the challenge was a huge success!
Thank you Steve, Clayco, Forum, and Concrete Works for your continued support and partnership!
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We are so grateful for your in-kind contributions!
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You bless us each year with your generosity, and without you we wouldn't be able to serve the children in our care! While your financial contributions are critical to our work, we also benefit heavily from your contribution of supplies and other materials. From time to time we update our wish list, and this year we want to break it up bimonthly and focus on specific items that we need the most! Click the link below for a complete listing.
For the months of March and April we will be collecting office supplies (specific needs are on the list)!
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Christian Activity Center
Caring for kids in East St. Louis
540 N. 6th Street | P.O. Box 2525 | East St. Louis, IL 62201
618-874-5615 | www.cacesl.org
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