Bright Futures celebrates third birthday
■ The organization thanked community partners at a Breakfast of Champions.
Bright Futures thanked community partners and celebrated its third birthday during the Breakfast of Champions at the Siloam Springs High School on Friday morning.
Individuals, businesses, organizations and school staff that support Bright Futures were thanked during the event and heard presentations about the current work the organization is doing.
Bright Futures connects kids in need in the school district with adults in the community who want to give a helping hand. It is part of Bright Futures USA, a Webb City, Mo.-based nonprofit that brings communities together to focus on the success of children, according to the organization’s website, www. brightfuturesusa.org.
Bright Futures Siloam Springs helps meet the needs of the whole child, according to Grace Davis, director of teacher quality and community relations.
“When a child is not worried about their wet socks or the fact that the T-shirt they have on is too small, and tugging on it, or that their stomach is growling and they are hungry, when their basic physical needs are met,
then they can focus and they can learn and they can be responsive and they can be active,” she said.
On a daily basis, teachers and school counselors identify students who have needs, such as new shoes or a new coat. The need is posted on Bright Futures’ social media sites, where it is usually met by a community member in less than 15 minutes, and in some cases less than eight minutes, said Crystal Wheat, director of the local program.
Bright Futures also hosts programs such as a backpack school supply giveaway before the first day of school and a winter sharefest, where children and their families get new coats and groceries to get through the holidays. In addition, they help families with individualized needs throughout the year, Wheat said.
“Bright Futures is about adults who circle around and care for kids in support of their success,” Davis said. “And it’s a synergy that accomplishes much more together than we could each do individually. Our community businesses are really a key partner in this success, whether it’s keeping your donation barrels in your lobbies … or it’s sending employee teams to help stuff backpacks or help a child try on a new pair of shoes or get a new coat, whether it is a financial donation to our summer snack pack program so there are no kids hungry during the summer.”
During the event, retiring Superintendent Ken Ramey was honored for his role in supporting Bright Futures.
“In the school district you see a whole school, whole child, whole community approach to attempting to solve problems, and any school district is only as strong as the involvement you have with your community,” Ramey said. “Bright Futures has given us the opportunity to bring different resources and different people and different partnerships together to serve children and families and that is exactly what the mission of the school district is — it is to use unique approaches to solve problems and to improve and change and give direction to children’s lives.
“You all are our champions, you are the difference makers and the leaders of Siloam Springs, and we respect, appreciate and value everything that you have contributed to our program.”
School Board member Audra Farrell said the decision to approve Bright Futures was one of the easiest the school board has ever made.
“It was a common partnership that would help kids, families and the community,” she said. “I am so happy to say thank-you to everyone in the room for being a champion. The program would not be what it is without you.”