Let the little children come to me

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14

Following in the footsteps of Jesus and the Gospels, the parish family of All Saints’ opened the Lockhart Early Childhood Center in 2014. At the same time, they created the All Saints’ Episcopal Church Early Childhood Foundation, an organization with its own 501c3 status, by-laws and board. Two years later the name was changed to The Early Childhood Foundation of Cabarrus County (ECFCC). The Rector and Senior Warden of All Saints’ serve on the board and the Vestry must approve any changes in the by-laws.

The ECFCC has created partnerships with St. James Lutheran Church, All Saints’ and First Presbyterian, Cabarrus Partnership for Children and the Cabarrus Arts Council.

The ECFCC serves publicly-funded preschools: McKnight Child Development Center; The Bilingual Preschool housed at three sites: The Lockhart Early Learning Center at All Saints’, St. James Lutheran Church and Central Avenue; and Save the Children Head Start of Cabarrus County. The ECFCC serves about 250 children on five sites.

Over the last five years, with grants and private support, we grew from serving 32 children to the number we serve today.

ECFCC supports preschool classrooms with the Orff music approach for 30 minutes each week with a certified Orff instructor. ECFCC provides over 600 new books for children in these schools. We support the teachers with Conscious Disciple professional development and teacher manuals, as well as teacher appreciation breakfasts. ECFCC is a strong voice and advocate for children in our community.

To support one preschool child for one year with music and books costs about $150.00. All board members are volunteers.

Outreach from All Saints’ is very appreciated. The partnership with All Saints’ is important to the continual success of our mission to offer enrichment and support to our children. The ECFCC walks in hope and light with our most vulnerable children.

For further conversation please reach out to Deacon Jackie Whitfield.