Day care association honors providers

Members of the Vernon County Child Care Association will join about 2.8 million other care providers across the nation today in celebrating National Provider Appreciation Day. "This day of recognition celebrated annually on the Friday before Mother's day was spearheaded by a group of volunteers in New Jersey in 1996," according to childcarelounge.com.

What began as a local pilot program has spread across all 50 states and moved north into Canada and across the Atlantic into Europe and Asia. It is also recognized by the 15 members of the Vernon County Child Care Association, according to the group's president Chris Emery.

There are many more than 15 day care providers in Vernon County. The number of providers is probably well over two dozen for the county. An exact figure is hard to determine because many of the smaller providers are not licensed or registered and don't belong to the association. The local association doesn't do anything special as a group on this day, however, some of the providers have things happening with their children and families at their facilities.

Day care is big business in the U.S. and Missouri. In Missouri alone, it employees 34,000 people in more than 5,000 small businesses. It produces $635 million in gross annual revenues and pays its employees more than $400 million per year in wages. Child care also generates $6 billion in output and supports 120,000 workers in other industries, according to the Missouri Child Care Resource and Referral Network. That's big money and when you think of it on a national scale the figures are staggering.

There are a hundreds of children in some form of child care throughout the county. Emery noted, "Those kids are with us more of their waking hours than they are their parents."

Not only do the members of the county association care for children, they care a great deal about the community. The Vernon County Child Care Association conducts a fundraiser each year to raise money for community projects. In the 10 years they have been organized, they have donated more than $15,000 for the Senior Scholarship Fund. They also contribute to other community charities and individuals in need.

The local association meets the third Tuesday of each month, usually in one of the members' homes. Sometimes they will meet at a local eatery. Their meetings function to keep everyone in the network and help "the new girls." They pass on information gained at conferences or from the 12 hours of training that licensed providers must attend each year and they often help the new providers out with surplus toys and the other necessities of the business.

Even though Emery is proud of the work that her group does in the community, she said she wanted to use this year's National Provider Appreciation Day "to make the public aware of the day," and she said "I want to thank the members of my association for the great job they do with the children, and all of the great families for everything they do."