Legacy of loving children behind benefit concert
Children enjoy the Roberta Webb Childcare Center’s playground.
In a benefit concert featuring two local folk and bluegrass groups, Roberta Webb Childcare Center hopes to raise enough money to cover costs for the upcoming year.
The concert, on Friday Nov. 7, will be held at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church, with a good-will offering to benefit the center.
Roberta Webb Childcare Center, located in the basement of Immanuel Mennonite Church, started out as a "vision of Immanuel Mennonite Church," said director Shari Kurtz.
Opened in November of 1994, its name, Roberta Webb, comes from the lady herself, an African-American woman who was well-loved and respected in the community. "She had a great love for children and for God," said Kurtz. Webb started a nursery in her home and constantly worked in the community until she passed away in 1990 at the age of 102. "Our goal was to keep her legacy alive," said Kurtz.
This legacy centers on assisting the community. They try to provide affordable childcare, said Evie Hertzler, board member. The center targets lower-income families who may be transitioning off of welfare or function as a single-parent household, although all types of families are welcome. The student population is diverse, with students from all races, including Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and African.
Childrens' ages range from two to five-years-old. The center is open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. There are approximately 45 children divided into two classes; two- and three-year-olds, and four- and five-year-olds.
The center operates off of fees that they charge parents for childcare, which are decided on a sliding scale according to the parents' income. Most parents do not pay for the complete cost of childcare. Additionally, the center receives some monies from United Way.
These monies, however, are not sufficient to meet all the needs of the center. As the center caters to a lower-income population, it often happens that a familial crisis will occur and a family will not be able to make their weekly payment to the center. Thereby, the debt is filled through nest egg funds brought in through fundraising.
"The board takes responsibility for fundraising," said Hertzler. The money raised during fundraisers goes towards the costs of simply operating the center, as well as helping defray costs when a family goes through a financial crisis and cannot pay their fees.
The benefit concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and will feature two local groups; Daphna Creek from Broadway and Blue Mountain Sunrise from Waynesboro.
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