Program could be victim of budget cuts

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - A Wabash Valley program that serves and feeds a couple hundred kids every day may not last past the end of the month.

The Crawford County Illinois Teen REACH program may likely be a victim of massive budget cuts.

Summer Success is part of Teen REACH, which gives kids from third to twelfth grade a fun place to go and play, but also learn positive life skills and to avoid negative influences.

A number of kids wrote letters Monday to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and other lawmakers. One reads, "My parents did not share life skills, Summer Success did. Without this program, I would probably be into drugs like many of my friends."

The Crawford County program is one of 93 sites in Illinois serving 27,000 kids.Ninety-nine percent of them qualify for free or reduced lunches.

"The kids come and they have a place to be and they have a place they feel welcome and for so many of these kids, that's the biggest thing they are missing out on," Jody Wilson of Crawford County Teen REACH said.

Jolie Finkbiner started the program 16 years ago before Teen REACH funding and hopes even without state funding, she can keep this going through the summer.

"If we don't pay for it now, we're going to pay for it down the road. I would rather put it in the program sitting right there than look across the cornfield at the prison across the way and invest it in that," Finkbiner said.

Even the kids are getting involved with fundraising efforts. Eleven-year-old Taylor Rutledge brought in $10 raised from a lemonade stand.

Almost all kids here at Summer Success do not take free breakfast or lunch for granted. Tenth grader Julia Ammerman said without this program she would only eat once a day. With the recent budget news, now Ammerman and the rest of Teen REACH appreciate not just the meals, but the program itself.

"The program is important to a lot of people, it's important to me," Ammerman said.

Crawford County Teen REACH costs $90,000 a year, which includes an after school program when school is in session. Funding for meals comes from a $25,000 grant through the State Board of Education.