A place to play

Rotary Club to donate labor and equipment to preschool

Children play on the soon-to-be renovated grounds of the Nevada Association of Latin Americans? preschool. The Las Vegas Rotary Club is planning to donate volunteer manpower and playground equipment to the nonprofit preschool.Jim miller/VIEW Jim miller/VIEWNevada Association of Latin Americans? preschool staff find ways to keep children busy outside without playground equipment. Assistant director of child care Raquel Ducksworth releases butterflies that the school raised as children watch. Advertisement

The gutted playground area at the Nevada Association of Latin Americans' (NALA) preschool looks a little bare at the moment. There are a few tricycles donated by the Rotary Club, long child-sized picnic benches, a little shade and some swingless swing sets. But it shouldn't stay that way for long, as the nonprofit day care center is getting help from the Las Vegas Rotary Club to bring its playground into compliance with the Southern Nevada Health District's new regulations for playground safety.

When the staff at NALA's preschool found out about the new rules, they had representatives from the health district come to the school and inspect everything. Practically all of the old metal playground equipment needed to be taken out, and the playground was shut down. Fortunately, NALA had friends that were willing to help. Through the Rotary Club, a landscaping company volunteered to remove the equipment, so children could play outside again.

The Rotary Club has pledged to donate labor and materials to put in new equipment that is up to code, with tough foam padding underneath to cushion falls. The Rotary wants to put in desert landscaping, a small learning garden, new sun shades for the children to play under and railings to keep homeless people from sleeping on the playground at night. Most of the work will be done by volunteers from different construction companies, but the Rotary Club is looking for people willing to help with painting, sanding and clean-up on a few community days, as well.

The Rotary Club got involved through Rotary member Las Vegas Constable Robert "Bobby G" Gronauer. Gronauer came in for a tour and, impressed with the services NALA provides, he brought the rest of the club in next time.

"They more or less adopted us because they saw the critical need here," said child care director Sherry Eason.

The preschool, among the most affordable in Las Vegas, allows parents to pay for child care at the center on a sliding scale. Clients pay between $55 and $75 per week, depending on the gross income and number of members in the household. Some single parents qualify to pay only $25 a week under a program run by the United Way. Funding for the preschool comes first from the parents, but also from the United Way and food is provided by a state-funded food program.

The children at the preschool are provided with breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack every day -- Eason raves about the center's cook and her homemade bread. Teachers at the facility are certified and take training regularly to maintain certification.

The curriculum includes an English-as-a-second-language program, as many children come to the center at 2 or 3 years old speaking only Spanish. Eason said the students graduate knowing numbers, letters, basic words and are prepared to enter kindergarten. Some teach English to their Spanish-speaking parents, she said.

Another program brings Hispanic seniors from different senior groups in Las Vegas into the classroom to act as "grandparents." The preschool has eight grandparents now who can sit with the children and give them extra attention. They don't have any responsibilities except to put "more love in the classroom," Eason said.

Founded in 1969 as a Hispanic social-service organization, NALA acquired a small day care center in 1978. At the time it was serving mainly black families, but now the center serves all low-income members of the community. However, its students are primarily Hispanic. Eason has worked at the center for 24 years. When she started, there were around 20 to 40 students.

"It just hadn't gotten to the right people yet," she said. She said the program grew through word of mouth. At first, it was slow going to get Hispanic mothers to use their services.

"It wasn't their culture to leave a child at a center," said Eason. But now there are 207 students.

NALA runs a variety of other programs for low- and middle-income residents. It provides immigration services to help clients apply for citizenship and refers them to ESL classes and other resources and materials they will need to prepare. Financial help is available for low-income seniors and others that are in need of emergency assistance.

There is an AIDS outreach program, as well. It includes prevention outreach and programs to help those who are HIV positive live with the disease through counseling, health care and job training.

The Rotary Club has members and connections to people that can provide expertise in construction, and it is getting discounts on some of the equipment. But it still needs help funding the project. The club has come up with a budget of $250,000 needed for repairs to the preschool. It plans to spend $150,000 of that on the playground.

If fundraising goes well, the Rotary Club would like to paint the building and resurface the parking lot, but, for now it is starting with the playground. The preschool staff hopes the project will be completed by September or October.

Leticia Gardea, executive director of the Nevada Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) is working through her organization to get the money. Some of the proceeds from NAHREP's May 4 Cinco Tee Mayo golf tournament at the Tuscany Golf Course will go to the playground. But NAHREP hopes to raise most of the funds directly through a radio telethon with KWID-FM, 101.9, on May 12.

The popular Spanish-language station will be at NALA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day conducting the fundraising drive, but volunteers will be at La Bonita markets and other Mexican grocery stores throughout the Valley taking donations. Some English-language radio stations may participate, as well.

However, it isn't all hands-off volunteering for the NAHREP members. Gardea said NAHREP will be at NALA, pulling up weeds and clearing debris when the time comes.

For more information about the preschool, or to make a donation, call 382-6252. To register for the Cinco Tee Mayo golf tournament, call 588-5448 or e-mail to leticia@nvahrep.org. Registration is $100 for NAHREP members and $125 for nonmembers.