Smart Start of Pender County

Quarterly Newsletter

January/February/March 2025

Agency Upcoming Events

Join us for the annual Week of the Young Child event on Thursday, April 10, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, where Smart Start of Pender County warmly invites families to engage in a delightful afternoon filled with enriching experiences! This special event promises a wonderful opportunity for community bonding and family connection, as we provide a variety of books and crafts designed for children from birth to 10 years of age. Immerse your little ones in the joy of storytelling and creativity, igniting their imaginations and fostering a lifelong love of learning. At Smart Start, we believe every child deserves a strong foundation for success, and this event embodies our commitment to ensuring that all children are healthy, happy, and ready to thrive in their educational journeys. Come and join us for an exciting day of interactive activities that will inspire curiosity and developmental growth—your child's adventure in literacy and creativity awaits! Don’t miss out—mark your calendars and be part of this vibrant celebration!

Agency Program Spotlight

Pender County Early Childhood Lending Library

Our Early Childhood Lending Library specializes in making learning fun! We offer countless resources such as developmentally appropriate educational toys and manipulatives, theme boxes, puzzles, teacher resource books, parenting books, music and MORE. Our resources cover all subject areas with an emphasis on the “play to learn” philosophy. Members may check out up to THREE items at a time for an entire month. In addition, we also have a workroom for all your classroom or craft needs and a variety of programs aimed to benefit the young children in Pender County!

Early Childhood Development

Community Partner Events

Pender County Schools

Pender County Health Department

Join Goodsearch.com to raise funds for Smart Start of Pender County. Goodsearch donates money to your favorite cause when you search the internet, shop online or dine out at local restaurants!  Use Goodsearch.com to search the internet and they donate a penny per search to your cause. Use Goodshop.com when you shop on line and they donate a percentage of every purchase and offer over 100,000 coupons to help you save money too! Sign up for their good dining program and they will donate a percentage of your restaurant bill when you eat at any one of thousands of participating restaurants. It's really easy; it's free and turns simple everyday actions into a way to make the world a better place. Please sign up today to support Smart Start of Pender County. 

Birthday Fundraiser for Smart Start of Pender County

Join in supporting a good cause for your birthday this year. Please consider Smart Start of Pender County as your facebook nonprofit fundraising project. Your contribution will make an impact. Every little bit helps and is appreciated. Meta will donate $5.00 too after the first donation.

The mission of Smart Start of Pender County, Inc. is to support services that help every child to grow into his or her potential as a person. Facebook takes care of the donation processing with no fees. 

You can always donate through Paypal as well.

Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-814-5400.

The license is not an endorsement by the State.

Board of Directors

Leslie Green- Board Chair

Donald Hall - Vice Chair

Sharon Willoughby - Treasurer

Allen Phillips-Bell– Secretary

Angela Beacham

Stacie Poulin

Rev. Dean Walker

Edith Meza

Sandra Sarmiento

Avery Ellington

Tandra Shepard Henderson

Jerry Groves

Donna VanVliet 

If you are interested in serving on the Smart Start of Pender County Board of Directors, or volunteering with our agency, please contact our office at (910) 259-9978 or stop by and visit with us. 

Smart Start of Pender County Staff

Connie Carr-Costin, MSW

Executive Director

ccarr-costin@pender4kids.com

 Ext: 31

Angel Parker

Program Manager

aparker@pender4kids.com  

 Ext: 24

Regina Bass-Corley, M.A.Ed

Consultant

rbass-corley@pender4kids.com

Ext. 27

Mia Carney

Program Support Assistant

mcarney@pender4kids.com

Ext. 36

Reginald Clark

Community Engagement Specialist

rclark@pender4kids.com

Ext. 26

Lisa Worley, MBA

Program Evaluator/ Coordinator

lworley@pender4kids.com



The staff of Smart Start of Pender County would like to thank our board members, child care providers and our local community for investing in early care and education.

Special thank you to Ms. Lauretta Murray.

Please like us on Facebook and connect with our website at www.pender4kids.com