2008
February Update

Dear Horton’s Kids’ Helpers,

We can’t thank you enough for supporting our expansion!

Last month we admitted twenty new children to the program and they are absolutely delighted to be on the big, yellow bus heading to the Capitol each week. They each have their own Monday and Tuesday tutors and are already feeling quite at home in Horton’s Kids. Thanks to you all, we’re up to 135 children now!

Our wonderful tutors are working wonders. Our most recent academic assessments found that, of the children tested in both spring and fall of 2007, 42% improved their reading fluency and 61% improved their math skills!

In addition to tutoring, the children have been on lots of fun field trips. They’ve seen “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” gone bowling, seen a performance of “The Lion King Reloaded,” been ice skating at Ft. DuPont, and patted a puppy at the Washington Animal Rescue League—among other things.

Isaac McLaughlin is in college! Those of you old folks may remember an eager, little boy trying to con you into more presents—he has grown into a remarkable young man who sets a great example for his neighbors and was even hired to work for Horton’s Kids as a Tutor Assistant. After taking an amazing college tour with CyberWorld Educational Foundation, Isaac applied to Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Jina’s attention (she’s our Older Youth Coordinator), Isaac was accepted and left us in January with a note saying, “You are nothing more than a blessing from God and I want to thank all of you at Horton’s Kids for giving me the tools I needed to be on the way to success.” If you’d like to write Isaac a letter, his college address is: Yarnall Hall, Room 306, P.O. Box 1045, Cheyney University, Cheyney, PA 19319.

Horton’s Kids is the lucky recipient of a COMPASS volunteer consulting grant—these brilliant MBAs are helping us improve our programs and infrastructure in order to better handle the new children.

During a ride to the dentist with Kim (our Basic Needs Associate), Dontrese and Da’Nesha were handed some small, locally grown, farmer’s market carrots. At first the girls were reluctant to try them because they didn’t look like the baby-cut carrots they’re used to, but they both agreed that they tasted good and were very sweet. Dontrese exclaimed, “They don’t even need ranch!”

During the Christmas shop, one little six-year old boy with his arms filled with presents could not believe his good fortune and looked up and asked, “Do I get to keep all of this?”

Donnetta Wills, a mother of four Horton’s Kids, wrote you a poem entitled,
“Thank You”.

Thank you for the things you do
The turkeys, the hams, the stuffin’ too
Christmas and Thanksgiving are always good
When the Horton Kids come through our ‘hood
Our stockings are full our turkeys are buff
My holidays are relaxing ‘cause they aren’t so rough
So thank you again for making my family smile
You’re such a blessing and I hope you’ll be around for a while
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE THINGS YOU DO
OH YEAH BEFORE I FORGET
“MAY GOD BLESS YOU!”

How you can help:
1.) DONATE ITEMS TO SILENT AUCTION: We need nice items for our 3rd Annual Silent Auction on March 29th—especially time in vacation homes, plane tickets, Redskins tickets, box suites, tickets to events, golf at hard-to-get-on courses, nice jewelry, fine wine, and restaurant gift certificates. If you can help by donating something, please tell Jina@hortonskids.org so we can thank you properly!

2.) HELP FIX A CHILD’S TEETH: We have dozens more children like Dontrese and Da’Nesha who badly need to see a dentist. If there is any way you could ask your DC, Maryland, or Virginia dentist to consider seeing a few Horton’s Kids out of the kindness of their heart, it would make an enormous difference in a child’s life. Please tell Kim@hortonskids.org.

3.) VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME: Our children need more caring adults in their lives—particularly tutors and mentors. For more information on how to contribute time to a child, please visit our volunteering page.

All of our love and thanks for everything you do for the children,

Your Friends at Horton’s Kids