Children at the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home are provided with love, the best care, an opportunity for hope, and, foremost, their spiritual needs are taken care of.
MONROE – Children at the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home are provided with love, the best care, an opportunity for hope, and, foremost, their spiritual needs are taken care of.
On Feb. 15, the children’s home will also be able to better take care of their education needs, because on that day, the home will celebrate the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art learning center.
“This learning center will be a real investment in the future of the children,” Perry Hancock, the home’s executive director, said. “It will be the first time in 15 years we will finally be able to bring our multimedia and computer labs, educational library, and tutoring rooms all together under one roof. Right now, they are scattered all over our campus.”
Fifteen years ago a fire destroyed the Home’s library, and since that time the children have had to make do.
“For the first time in a long time, we will have a true educational resource library,” Hancock said. “The new facility will feature an expanded computer room and a big center room with tables and chairs that seats 32. Our tutoring rooms will be expanded to allow more children to get help.
“Inside the building we will have a reading gazebo,” Hancock said. “Our current library, which is filled with donated books will be turned into a recreational library and we will have an expanded resource library, because reading is extremely important in their educational development.”
The initial donation for the library came from the family of former resident Brenda Hall Abney, a graduate of Louisiana College and a pediatric nurse. She passed away, but her family wanted her to be remembered.
The new library will be named after her, a first in the 107-year history of the Children’s Home.
Hancock is quick to point out that others, like Roy O. Martin, have made significant contributions to the project. And now, with the opening just three months away, others are stepping forward to assist the home in getting the books to replenish those books lost in the fire.
“Three high schools have asked if they could collect books and money for new books. “I think all three of those schools have LC graduates teaching there, and they were the ones that are behind the effort,” Hancock said. “We have gladly accepted their offers to help us out.”
The biggest contribution is yet to come.
LC President Dr. Joe Aguillard hit upon the idea of using the appearance of former First Lady Barbara Bush to Louisiana College for the school’s “Follow the Star,” a Louisiana College Christmas to help the Children’s Home library get much needed books.
“The former First Lady has embraced the cause of literacy and is an advocate of reading aloud to children,” Amy Robertson, Director of Communications at LC, said. “Dr. Aguillard thought Mrs. Bush’s philanthropic work with literacy would be the perfect fit to help the Children’s Home restock its library.
As part of the 6 p.m. performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in Guinn Auditorium on Dec. 1, ticket holders are asked to bring a gift certificate from their favorite bookstore to be donated to the Children’s Home.
“Mrs. Bush will read the Christmas Story from the Bible as part of the performance, but 24 children from the home will also be on stage with her while she reads the Christmas Story,” Robertson said.
The ages of the children coming to the stage with Mrs. Bush will range from 5-years-old to 18-years-old.
“I think it will be a wonderful experience for our children,” Hancock said. “We are all very excited about the prospects of being there. But we are even more thrilled with the idea of stocking our library. Our children will soon have a true educational resource library, one that will be filled with books that can help them.”
People, who might not want to give a gift certificate, can still donate money through Louisiana College or the Children’s Home.
While tickets are still available, seating is limited, so they must be purchased in advance. For ticket information contact, the Louisiana College Office of Institutional Advancement (318) 487-7118 or go online to www.lacollege.edu.