CARing Project
CARing Kids Program
A Program of Lutheran Campus Ministry for Children At Risk from a neighboring community.
The CARing Kids program forms the main portion of the CARing Project. CARing seeks to build self-esteem and provide role models to the elementary school children from a neighboring community. This program pairs each child one-on-one with a university student, who is their "buddy" for the semester. Through play and activities, CARing buddies focus on developing the children's language, reading, and math as well as their self-image and social abilities.
The children come from a community which faces many challenges. Each semester, there are 20 children who are selected to participate in CARing. The children are in second through fifth grades.
The program is staffed by Pastor Ray Ranker who is Lutheran chaplain at UMD, a student peer minister who has had extensive previous involvement with CARing, and the program coordinator for Lutheran Campus Ministry. Each semester, there can be up to 20 students from UMD who volunteer to be a buddy with a child or help out with the program in other ways.
To sign up to be a buddy, click the button below. For more information on CARing Kids, please contact us at lutheran@umd.edu.
The Book Project
We are always collecting new or gently used books for elementary school children. These books help us fill our library, which the CARing kids use every week on Thursday’s, and the library at En Camino, which is used every Wednesday. Because the children often do not have many books in their homes, and because we want to encourage them to read on their own, every week children can take home up to three books which they may keep.
How is the Caring Project Supported?
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The CARing project is supported entirely through donations from individuals and churches and money grants from the University of Maryland. A nutritious daily snack, supplies for each activity, and a stipend for the student leader are just some of the ways that we use monetary donations. This year, the van rentals that are used to transport the CARing kids to the program site at Hope Lutheran Church and Student Center in College Park have been entirely funded through University of Maryland Student Government Association (SGA). Visit Support Our Ministry for more information.