As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, The Saturday Club was fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with an organization that supports one of the essential female roles — that of the mother. Our Member Volunteers worked this month to promote and support the incredible work that the Maternal & Child Health Consortium (MCHC) of Chester County does in our region. MCHC empowers families to overcome social and environmental barriers and build healthy futures for their children through a variety of services and resources.
As many of us have experienced over the last 12 months, the pandemic has changed the way we are all able to support our 
families. It is disproportionately affecting families who have been working with the MCHC in their Family Center, where families were able to receive in-person support, as well as at-home support utilizing a home visiting model called
“Parents as Teachers, Born to Learn.” Home visits have moved to virtual visits, with Parent Educators working with parents and children to participate in activities to support early development. Many families are relying on smartphones for these visits, which can be difficult to work through when a young child and parent are sharing a smartphone screen.
To support the MCHC families, Parent Educators have been dropping off supplies whenever possible to assist in engaging the children in creative and educational activities. Our Member Volunteers set up an Amazon Wishlist to outfit over 30 bags with modeling clay, crayons, scissors, pencil cases, jump ropes and more. Masked and gloved, we met out front of our historic Clubhouse to assemble these developmentally-appropriate activity bags. This was an easy and fun way to help the Maternal & Child Health Consortium’s Family Center continue the impactful work they are doing — to arm parents with the basic essentials to provide their children with the foundation for a lifetime of learning.
