Summary of 2019-20 Interventions (Plan Year 8)
Riverside Garden – (Year 6 reallocated funding) Students in 3-6 grades will prepare and plant 250 square feet of raised bed gardens next to the school. In 2019 these are new garden beds so students filled the boxes with soil, planted and arranged with the Community Resource Center’s Food Pantry volunteers to harvest in the summer. This fall, students will harvest potatoes and other fall crops. Funding for the Riverside Garden is carried over from a previous budget and no additional allocation will be needed at this time. Funding Request: $ 1,366.50 (reallocated – unused funds from Kiwanis Youth Leadership program)
MCS Summer Kids Camp – A 6-week robust summer camp is proposed for children in grades K-5, with goals to engage students intellectually, to promote healthier eating, to discourage screen time, to encourage an active lifestyle, and to positively connect with other youth in a structured setting. Funds will support 4 specific camps: Healthy Chefs, Science Extravaganza, Camping Adventures, and Outdoor Fitness. Funding Request: $ 6000
Acorn Farmer’s Market and Café – In response to Manchester’s challenge as a food desert, a new 501c3 organization will establish a farm-stop in the Village limits by the end of 2019 and the doors will open by 2nd quarter of 2020. A 1000-1500 square foot building will offer fresh food items for healthy meals, plus limited options for healthy pre-prepared meals, featuring locally grown and raised produce, meat, dairy, eggs, bread and pasta. Most of these items will be sold on consignment. The café will make hot and cold beverages, some baked goods, soup and sandwich of the day. The store will be open 6-7 days a week, 70-90 hours per week. The funds being requested are for infrastructure to assemble the store. Funding Request: $ 25,000 (one-time infrastructure)
Run Manchester – The Manchester Community Schools robotics teams will coordinate the Run Manchester 5k/10k and kids 1 mile fun run event. This community 5K/10K has been going on for 10 years, organized entirely by the students, mentors, and parent volunteers of the Manchester Community Schools robotics teams. Funding Request: $ 1500
Link Crew – Manchester High School will launch LINK Crew, a transition program that welcomes freshmen and makes them feel comfortable throughout the first year of their high school experience. Built on the belief that students can help students succeed, this proven high school transition program trains mentors from the junior and senior classes to be Link Crew Leaders. As positive role models, Link Crew Leaders will guide the freshmen to discover what it takes to be successful during the transition to high school and help facilitate freshman success. LINK Crew will launch in the 2019-20 academic year. Funding Request: $ 1000
Dance Manchester – Manchester community members will come together to share this fun and engaging form of exercise. The dances will be held quarterly, with the kickoff in September. We will follow that up with a dance in December, early February and one in March/April. The dances will be themed to match the particular time of year. Funding Request: $ 2000
Manchester Farmer’s Market – The Village of Manchester’s Farmers Market will play a very important role this year as the only current source of fresh produce. The market will operate Thursdays May 9-Oct 24 from 3:30-7 pm in Chi-Bro Park. If the Acorn Farmers Market & Café is not able to open in early 2020, we are proposing to host 3 indoor markets as well. Vendors sell eggs, honey, maple syrup, seedlings for vegetables/herbs/flowers, meat, and baked goods. Community collaboration includes free health screening and fun events for kids and adults. Funding Request: $ 5000
SRSLY Manchester – Now in its 5th year, SRSLY is a community coalition dedicated to the prevention of destructive behavior in youth. SRSLY uses multiple strategies, a wide range of creative programming, and a focus on youth leadership and community engagement to prevent youth substance abuse. The target population for this intervention is youth ages 10-18 years old and their families. Funding Request: $ 20,000
Community and School Garden 2020 – Volunteers in the community ensure area residents of all ages have the opportunity to garden. Gardening season starts each year in March with garden lessons at Klager including planting seeds (plants go home in May) and hundreds of packages of seeds are put at the Manchester District Library, In May, Riverside students garden and the Community Garden opens (30 plots available for rent). Funding Request: $ 900
Adaptive Movement – Now in its 4th year, Adaptive Movement takes specially choreographed movement classes to Manchester residents, ages 3 -93, with a wide range of disabilities and physical limitations. The goal is to give this population the health benefits and enjoyment of appropriate exercise to music. Classes are provided through the school year for all ages of special education students in Manchester Schools and members of the Senior Citizens Council. Funding Request: $ 5600
Safe Routes to School SR2S – Walking is a great way to promote physical activity and connections, and this intervention currently engages 25% of elementary and middle school students in Manchester. The program promotes walking to school at least 10 times a year, and will expand in the 2019/20 academic year. Funding Request: $ 3000