Park Development for East St Louis
Tax deductible
The Christian Activity Center (CAC) is a free, nonprofit after school program for children and youth ages 5-18 located in the heart of the Gompers housing projects in East St. Louis, IL- one of the nation's most dangerous and impoverished cities. CAC strives to keep children off of the mean streets, providing activities and programs necessary for their health, academics, and well-being. CAC kids are offered daily: hot dinner meals, reading, math, Spanish, and French classes, one-on-one tutoring, recreation (martial arts, weight room, gym), chaplaincy (Kids4Christ program and bible studies), and much more. While we can provide necessary programs and opportunities for kids inside of our walls- the conditions that surround them in East St. Louis will ultimately crush them- after all, children grow up in PLACES, not PROGRAMS.
This being said, it is necessary that children have wide open green spaces in which to not only feel safe, but escape to and play. This is why CAC is on mission to deliver a 22-acre park behind our building. Each part of the park will have a healing purpose for children and families of this devastated area- baseball and soccer fields to foster community bonding and healthy competition, floral and edible gardens to bring a sense of beauty to the area and to feed families year-round, walking and biking trails, tot lots and children's playgrounds, a chapel and prayer garden, splash pads for summer fun and relief from hot weather, and a community center and performing arts stage.
The goal of this park project is to not only give East St. Louis something beautiful and useful, but we hope it will become the tipping point of transformation for the region- an area that has for too long suffered (please watch CAC's video to understand more about our region). CAC currently operates on a budget given completely through individual donors or grants for the programs it offers daily. Funds raised for this project will go directly to construction costs for the park so that donor funding for existing programs is not affected and will continue to go to the kids.
We at CAC would be so thankful to even make a small portion of the $250,000 goal- this will be an ongoing project that will ultimately help transform East St. Louis into a safer and more beautiful area.
This being said, it is necessary that children have wide open green spaces in which to not only feel safe, but escape to and play. This is why CAC is on mission to deliver a 22-acre park behind our building. Each part of the park will have a healing purpose for children and families of this devastated area- baseball and soccer fields to foster community bonding and healthy competition, floral and edible gardens to bring a sense of beauty to the area and to feed families year-round, walking and biking trails, tot lots and children's playgrounds, a chapel and prayer garden, splash pads for summer fun and relief from hot weather, and a community center and performing arts stage.
The goal of this park project is to not only give East St. Louis something beautiful and useful, but we hope it will become the tipping point of transformation for the region- an area that has for too long suffered (please watch CAC's video to understand more about our region). CAC currently operates on a budget given completely through individual donors or grants for the programs it offers daily. Funds raised for this project will go directly to construction costs for the park so that donor funding for existing programs is not affected and will continue to go to the kids.
We at CAC would be so thankful to even make a small portion of the $250,000 goal- this will be an ongoing project that will ultimately help transform East St. Louis into a safer and more beautiful area.
Organizer
Sam Stegman
Organizer
East Saint Louis, IL
CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY CENTER
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
