$15,000 Donated to Richland Daycare

RICHLAND – Federation Bank in Richland donated $15,000 to the Richland Area Childcare Organization on Feb. 28. This money will go towards furnishing classrooms and purchasing toys and play equipment, with any leftover money going into the general operating fund. “We just wanted to show support to new businesses coming into town and also what it will bring for the area community,” said Federation Bank CSR Nicole Meachem. “The need for child care is important, and in this community, there’s not a lot of options, besides Pekin or traveling to Fairfield or Washington. It’ll be a good asset to Richland.”

“It’s exciting. It’s well-needed,” said RACCO Vice President Kerry Hadley. “And I understand that they’re working on a subdivision now, so we could have five or six new homes coming into Richland within the next year or two. More families coming into Richland is just more benefit to us. Looks like the daycare could fill up quickly, which we're excited about. We will ramp up slowly, but we will get there. Our goal is to have 51 children and they’re maxed out at 65. So we feel that's a comfortable range for us in the area we're serving. To start with, we can always expand later. We're excited to see it happening. It's becoming a reality.”

Currently, there are no licensed daycare facilities in Keokuk County. The Richland Area Childcare Organization has worked for years to fix this. Ground was broken for the new daycare in June of last year, at the location of the old school house across from Trinity Friends Church. The new daycare will be named the Jerry B. Robinson Childcare Center, after a Richland native who donated the $5,000,000 building. The building is 95% completed and work is expected to be done by June of this year.

The childcare organization is currently working to furnish the building and find a director for the daycare. They hope to open the daycare to the public beginning in August. The daycare will be open for kids from newborn through school age. There are also plans to have preschool for three and four-year-olds and after-school programs at the daycare.

“We hope that this will sustain our program. Our goal, before we leave the board, is to have sustainability with a three-year plan, so that the daycare will continue on, even if we die,” said Hadley.

“Our town is growing because we’ve got a daycare,” said Board President Sherry Cobb. “And we’ve got a locker coming in…and a mental health behavioral psychologist coming in on the square, in a brand new building. So, for a town of 545 people, and there isn’t hardly a house for sale in Richland.”