MASON COUNTY — A branch of the Mason County Family Resource Network (FRN), the Early Childhood Committee(ECC) has recently been born and members are working to promote family friendly activities all across the county.

Bree Ramey with the ECC spoke at the recent FRN meeting regarding the committee and what they are currently working on. One of the most popular attractions right now is their calendar of free community events. On the ECC’s website, there is a calendar listing family friendly events such as Vacation Bible Schools and library events. Ramey stated she was surprised and excited about how full the calendar has gotten, since it is mainly filled with submitted events. She said she contacted several of the local churches as well as the other organizations they work with like Magic Years and Early Education Station, and the calendar for the summer filled up in no time.

While the calendar is jam packed for the summer, Ramey stated events can be submitted all year long. Events should be submitted at least one week in advanced of the date of the actual event, and it must be free to be posted on the calendar. To submit an event, contact Ramey at bree@teamwv.org or 304-857-0020, ext. 106.

In addition to the calendar of events, the ECC’s website is slowly growing to include several other aspects. There is a ‘news’ section where events are posted that are not free or where a registration is required. There is also a photo gallery in the works and a ‘resources’ page. Under the ‘resources’ page, there are links to other organizations that can help families and children with numerous issues. Links include categories such as adult education/job skills, child care, children with special needs, counseling and support groups, disease research and support services, emergency assistance, head start/early head start/pre-k, health care, housing and homeless, hotlines, OB/GYN, parent support, pregnancy and childbirth, recreation, transportation, and other website for parents.

According to the ECC’s website, their mission is to “support parent/child relationships while promoting the physical, social and emotional development of children, and by identifying and promoting standards for the academic development and emergent literacy of children.” Ramey stated they are trying to get the word out to parents about anything that could possibly be fun for their children, as well as help them grow. She said she plans to present this program to a couple of more other organizations, such as the ministerial association, in the hopes of spreading the word as much as possible.

For more information about the ECC, or to view the calendar of events, visit the ECC’s website at www.eccmasonwv.webs.com.