The President has called all Americans to greater civic involvement and to devote more time to community service. He must have visited a Head Start program and saw the impact that our volunteers make in the lives of low-income children and families.

Volunteers are an important and integral part of our Head Start program. High school and college students, homemakers, parents, and grandparents of Head Start children, retired senior citizens, and other community citizens offer critical help to our program. Volunteers assist with transportation, parent education, minor renovations to centers, installing playgrounds, indoor creative play, reading to the children, and recruiting and instructing other volunteers. Each year we have approximately 28,300 hours of volunteer time given to our programs.

Community Collaborations and partnerships - From school districts donating classroom space and educational materials to private organizations donating equipment for children with disabilities, community organizations provide a wide array of services to our programs. We simply could not provide such a high level of quality service without these partners. Head Start service highlights the importance of collaboration between Head Start programs and the broader community.