FITCHBURG — Through its Calming Kit Project, Fitchburg nonprofit Empower Children for Success (ECFS) brought together community partners, funders, and volunteers to ensure children and families throughout the region have access to resources that promote emotional regulation, resilience, and social-emotional well-being.
For children experiencing stress, trauma, or overwhelming emotions, ECFS recognized the need for supportive tools that can make a meaningful difference in their ability to cope, learn, and thrive.
On Saturday, July 25, ECFS hosted a community assembly event at NewVue Communities in Fitchburg, where volunteers came together to assemble 350 Calming Kits that will be distributed to children and families throughout North Central Massachusetts.
This community effort was made possible through the collective support and generosity of four key funders who invested in the vision of ensuring children have access to social-emotional wellness tools: Health Equity Partnership of North Central Massachusetts (CHNA9), Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Rockland Trust Bank, and DCU for Kids.
Together, these funders provided the resources needed to purchase the materials, supplies, and tools required to create 350 Calming Kits that will help children develop healthy coping strategies, manage stress, regulate emotions, and build resilience.
“Each of these funders played an important role in making this project possible,” said Marites MacLean, President and Co-Founder of Empower Children for Success. “Their combined investment demonstrates what can happen when community organizations, businesses, and philanthropic partners come together around a shared commitment to children’s well-being. Because of their support, 350 children and families will receive tools that encourage emotional wellness and resilience.”
The Calming Kit Project was developed to address the growing need for accessible social-emotional supports for children and caregivers. Each kit includes resources designed to help children identify and express emotions, practice calming strategies, and develop skills that support self-regulation.
The project reflects ECFS’s commitment to trauma-informed practices and community collaboration. By partnering with local organizations, schools, early education providers, and community leaders, ECFS continues to expand access to resources that strengthen children and families.
The July 25 assembly brought together dedicated volunteers from the community who generously donated their time to assemble the kits. Their efforts transformed thousands of individual supplies into 350 ready-to-distribute Calming Kits that will soon reach children and families across the region.
The success of the Calming Kit Project was also made possible through the generous partnership of NewVue Communities, which provided space to store the project inventory, host the community assembly event, and support the distribution of the completed Calming Kits. Having a centralized location for receiving, organizing, assembling, and distributing thousands of donated supplies was essential to the project’s success and allowed ECFS to efficiently coordinate volunteers and prepare the kits for families in our community.
ECFS extends its heartfelt appreciation to NewVue Communities for its commitment to strengthening the community through partnership and collaboration. “As an all-volunteer-run nonprofit organization, partnerships like this make projects of this scale possible,” said Marites MacLean, President and Co-Founder of Empower Children for Success. “NewVue Communities’ generosity provided more than space, it provided the foundation that allowed our volunteers, funders, and community partners to come together to serve children and families. We are deeply grateful for their support.”
ECFS also extends its sincere appreciation to Panera Bread for generously donating refreshments for the volunteers. Their support helped create a welcoming environment and kept volunteers energized throughout the assembly event. Together with the generosity of NewVue Communities, Panera Bread, the project’s funders, and dozens of volunteers, this community effort demonstrated what is possible when organizations work together to improve the well-being of children and families.
“Every kit assembled represents more than a collection of materials,” MacLean said. “It represents a child receiving support, a caregiver receiving valuable resources, and a community coming together to invest in the emotional health of our children. We are incredibly grateful to our funders, NewVue Communities, Panera Bread, our volunteers, and every community partner whose generosity made this project possible.”
Together, the community assembled more than 350 Calming Kits, building resilience, hope, and brighter futures for children across North Central Massachusetts.
– Empower Children for Success
Original article
Comments