The Greater Salina Community Foundation is pleased to announce a call for grant applications from the Fund for Early Childhood Care, Education & Development.

The Fund will make grants (up to $1,000 each) to organizations or programs whose work furthers the care, education, development, health, safety and human service needs of children ages 0-6 in Saline and Ottawa Counties to better prepare them for kindergarten. Special consideration will be given to programs or organizations that work with children in poverty or with other significant barriers to learning.

According to the Research and Policy Committee of the Committee for Economic Development, helping all children start school ready to learn is critical to their future success and to the well-being of society as a whole. Children who start school behind their peers are unlikely to catch up. Children who enter kindergarten with limited word reading skills are the most likely to develop later reading difficulties and require remedial education.

Studies show that early schooling has enormous benefits. Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn are less likely to need special-education services and more likely to graduate. After leaving school, they are more likely to be employed and less likely to be on welfare.

The Fund for Early Childhood Care, Education and Development was established in 2010 by Mark & Jane Berkley of Salina. Additional contributions from a variety of donors have been made to this important fund.

Applications are available on the Foundation’s website at www.gscf.org, click on Apply for a Grant and then Fund for Early Childhood, or call the Foundation at 785-823-1800. Applications are due by September, 2011. Awards will be made in April.