Back to School Bash
Back to School Bash
Annual Event Helps Local Families Receive School Supplies
Photos/ Connecting Communities in Action
It’s time to be thinking about going back to school. If you live in Cattaraugus County and have school-age children, here is an event you don’t want to miss.
On Friday, August 23, Connecting Communities in Action will hold its Annual Back to School Bash on the front lawn at 25 Jefferson Street in Salamanca, New York from 2:00-4:00pm. This event is free and open to all area children. Your kids will enjoy an afternoon of carnival-type activities sponsored by each of the CCA departments: games, prizes and crafts, popcorn, hotdogs and beverages, school supplies, personal hygiene products and free back to school haircuts by Tim Holland. There will be plenty of activities for the kids to play and win prizes to celebrate the end of summer. There will also be face painting and balloon shapes for the kids to express their creative sides! Bonus: CCA’s Back to School Bash will feature backpack and school supply giveaways.
The goal of the event is to end the summer on a fun note and provide awareness of the services that are available in our communities to assist individuals and families in their day-to-day lives in the areas of health and safety, economic, and social issues. There will be several community partners in attendance, including but not limited to, EPIC for Children, the Allegany Community Center, Catholic Charities, Cattaraugus & Wyoming Counties Project Head Start, the Cattaraugus County Health Department, Directions in Independent Living, Fidelis Care, Healthy Community Alliance, Literacy West, NYS of Health, Safe Kids/Southern Tier Health Care Systems, Venture For the Wellsprings Resilience Technique, and more.
CCA helps to build resilient communities by helping people achieve economic, physical, and emotional security. CCA programs provide immediate services to children and victim parents through collaborative safety planning, linkages to the rest of Victim Services programming, and provides information and referrals to available resources for victims of domestic violence and their children.
Angel Fisher, CCA Brand and Data Manger, reminds us that August 17 is National Non-Profit Day which commemorates the Tariff Act having been signed into law on 8/17/1894, providing exclusions from federal income tax levied on corporations for charitable organizations. Why is this important?
Non-profit organizations, like CCA, play a vital role in community development by offering services such as food banks, affordable housing, medical care, legal counsel, and education. Non-profit organizations that use a trauma-informed approach fully integrate awareness of individual historical, racial, and systemic trauma into all aspects of functioning to provide a workplace environment and community that intentionally reduces the likelihood of further harm and allows the opportunity for healing and growth.
CCA Programs include: domestic violence non-residential program, children’s programs, rape crisis program, Office of Victim Services compensation program, crime victim program, violence intervention program, CPS/DV collaboration program, prevention education program, and more.
Connecting Communities in Action would like to announce its participation in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Meals will be provided to all children 18 years of age and under without charge. Lunches will be provided at sites in Cattaraugus, Little Valley, Olean, Salamanca, and West Valley. Their 24-hour victim services hotline is 1-888-945-3970. They can also be reached at 716-945-1041 or www.ccaction.org.