Resource fair to promote activities for youth

Join the Community Resource Fair, sponsored by Mayor Rodney Craig's Kids at Hope Coalition, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 21, at the Hanover Park Park District, 1919 Walnut Ave., in Hanover Park.

This Resource Fair is designed to promote and provide information regarding various opportunities and activities for youth and families in the Village of Hanover Park. The Kids at Hope Coalition is seeking participation from local agencies, churches, schools, recreational and philanthropic organizations dedicated to providing safe, fun activities for children and families in our community.

The Resource Fair is free. Hanover Township will provide complementary bus service from some of the area schools to the park district. There will be games and activities for the kids, performances by local children, giveaways and raffle prizes. Concessions will be available for a small fee.

Who are the "Kids at Hope" in the Hanover Park community? Every child who resides in the community is to be considered a "Kid at Hope" rather than a "Kid at Risk." The belief of the Hanover Park Kids at Hope Coalition is that all children are capable of success without exceptions.

The coalition is united in bringing this message to the entire Hanover Park area - that all children can find some area of interest that will provide success and an avenue of involvement for them.

The goal is a future that is productive and happy no matter what they choose to do with their lives. The Kids at Hope Coalition chooses to support the positive hope that all children will find something that suits them and to provide them with opportunities along the way.

The goal is to provide information to children and their families about the opportunities that are here, already in place for them, in their very own community.

Children and families who attend the fair will be sent on a scavenger hunt to find out about all of the different activities available in each of the four destinations of life: Home and Family, Hobbies and Recreation, Community and Service, and Career and Education.

The Kids at Hope Coalition is looking for organizations and businesses that provide opportunities in each of these areas to be represented at the fair.

If you are an organization that provides opportunities for children and families in the Hanover Park area, the Hanover Park Kids at Hope Coalition would like you to participate in the Resource Fair. There is no fee to participate.

They ask only that you come and bring information about what you offer to youth.

To sign up to have a table at the Community Resource Fair, contact the Kids at Hope Coalition through Police Social Worker Tricia Rossi at hanoverparkkidsathope@gmail.com or call (630) 823-5579.

For information about Kids at Hope, visit www.kidsathope.org.