Vermont Business Magazine Ready Set Grow Center for Early Childhood Education opened in Newport this past September thanks to the support of many community and state-wide partners. Locally, Casella Waste Systems came on board as a strong supporter early on, showcasing their desire to support children and families in the Northeast Kingdom.
Michelle Faust, Executive Director of Northeast Kingdom Learning Services Inc, the organization that both created and oversees Ready Set Grow, understands the importance of collaboration in order to make life in the Northeast Kingdom viable for families.
Casella and its subsidiary company New England Waste Services of Vermont (NEWSVT) which owns and operates the Coventry landfill, made a donation of $10,000 to Ready Set Grow to support the startup of the center this past fall.
"NEKLS, Inc. is grateful to Casella for their generous donation in supporting the opening of Ready, Set, Grow Childcare Center.” said Faust.
Jeremy Labbe, Michelle Faust and Jeff Weld in the Ready Set Grow PlaygroundWith Casella's support the center is looking forward to having all rooms open with full enrollment by the end of February.
Founded in 1975 in Rutland with one truck, Casella now employs 2,500 people across New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, providing resource management expertise and waste disposal and recycling services to residential, commercial, municipal and industrial customers.
“We were blown away by Michelle’s vision for the center and knew we wanted to help in any way possible,” said Jeff Weld Director of Community Engagement at Casella. “To see her vision come to life has been amazing. We are so honored to be a part of this vibrant community and to play a small role in helping this vital asset come to life. In our opinion, Michelle has set the gold-standard for what childcare in this state and region should be. We all know it takes a village to raise our children, we’re just proud to be a part of a village that has people like her to lead the way.”
Faust feels that Casella's commitment to community, employees and children is to be applauded.
“If we want a thriving economy, we must recognize the important role that employers can play in supporting their employees that have children that need childcare. High quality childcare is costly - ask any working parent how much of their paycheck goes to provide care for their children."
Let's Grow Kids, a State-Wide initiative dedicated to providing affordable access to childcare in the State of Vermont, states "Employers are critical partners in addressing Vermont's childcare challenges. Childcare is often the family support that makes it possible for parents or guardians to go to work, and it is the foundation on which businesses expand, recruit, and retain employment."
Ready Set Grow provides childcare in-house along with services from Northeast Kingdom Community Action Headstart. Meals are provided through a collaboration with Umbrella’s Cornucopia Program and The Northeast Kingdom Children’s Museum will open in 2020. For more information or to enroll your child, call 802 995-2051