A free Family Day Celebration and Wellness Fair, hosted by Friendship churches, will be held from 5PM to 7PM today at the Friendship Bible Baptist Church at 43 West Main Street.
A hot dog and chips meal, kids games, numerous community organizations and ministries which will highlight services available to area residents, and hundreds of dollars in giveaways and prizes, including pizza certificates, farmer market coupons, an hour of horse riding instruction, CDs, and more, will be available for attendees.
A resources brochure for future reference also will be provided to attending individuals of all ages and families.
Family Day is observed nationally each year on the fourth Monday in September to celebrate simple, everyday activities which parents can do with their kids, like sharing a meal, playing a game, or asking about their day.
Founded over 20 years ago by the national Center on Addiction, studies have found that these low-cost focuses for bringing families together can create strong, healthy relationships which can help prevent future drug use.
Parents having a warm, supportive relationship with their children, organizers say, is linked to better judgment, increased self-control, stronger social skills, self-confidence, better emotional responses, improved school performance, and resilience, all strengths which can help reduce these risks for children.
Friendship churches have been coming together to focus on building strong children, youth and families environments and are moving forward with an initiative to engage a children, youth and families ministry director on a volunteer, part-time or full-time basis, to aid in this initiative.
Interested individuals can contact Allegany Hope, project coordinator, at AlleganyHopeWNY@outlook.com or (585) 664-9989 for additional information, with updated information on activities being available on the Friendship churches group Facebook page at What God is Doing in Friendship ny.
More ways in which families can celebrate every day, including a free Parent Toolkit: Making Everyday Special, is at CASAFamilyDay.org.