Dayspring Community Connectors: AEC Trust

Imagine!’s Dayspring department’s Community Calendar Activities (CCAs) introduce families with young children who have developmental disabilities or delays to places in our community that offer great activities and opportunities for children to meet their goals through fun and play. All activities encourage motor, sensory, social-emotional, cognitive, and speech-language development.

Each location has activities that are age and developmentally appropriate. Activities are centered around play, because play is the primary vehicle for a child’s mental and physical growth. Play has a vital role in cognitive, speech-language, physical, emotional and social development.

Much of young children’s learning takes place when they direct their own play. Learning occurs as children touch, manipulate, experiment and talk about things, while interacting with people who facilitate without directing. During play, children are provided with sensory experiences and opportunities to move. Young children need to climb, run, jump and challenge themselves motorically. Children are natural explorers and instinctively touch, taste, hear, and observe the world around them.

In order to create these meaningful community activities, Imagine! needs the support of many organizations. So today I’d like to highlight one community partner that does so much to connect young children with developmental delays and disabilities and their families with the community: AEC Trust, which recently provided the Imagine! Foundation with a $10,000 grant to support Dayspring’s CCAs.

 The AEC Trust is a private foundation established in 1980 as a philanthropic, grantmaking organization. Funding has traditionally focused on arts and culture; education; environment; and health and human services.

Thank you, AEC Trust, for providing opportunities for young children with developmental disabilities and delays to engage with their communities in meaningful and valuable ways!