A Safe Place For Easton's Kids

Last Thursday night, Northampton County Council was visited by one of its most distinguished citizens, Leonarda Grifo. Not only is she the widow of one of our finest judges and mother to an excellent attorney, but Mrs. Grifo has herself been a tireless advocate for many local causes to improve our community. Perhaps the most important of these is the Easton Area Community Center, which provides a home for 300 at-risk children between 3 and 7 pm, when they are most likely to commit a crime. Instead of asking for a hand out, Ms. Grifo introduced staffers to explain how they make a difference.

And boy, they really do.

Most of you probably don’t recognize the name, but Easton Area Community Center is the successor to St. Anthony’s Youth Center, located at 9th and Washington, just two blocks from the Courthouse. It’s where the Easton Assassin, Larry Holmes, first learned how to box. It’s where Sal Panto, Jr., Easton’s popular Mayor, probably learned his first “clean and safe” lessons. It’s been a community anchor since 1953, having helped over 45,000 kids.

All along, the formula has been pretty simple. Sports. From wrestling to basketball, that is still the heart of this youth center, with 38 wrestlers, 6 boys’ basketball teams, a girls’s team and a cheerleading squad. A “practice” basketball teaches fundamentals to children who might be unready to compete.

But in addition to this sports emphasis, the Center has recruited Lafayette students to volunteer as mentors for these kids, helping them with their homework. By the way, that’s the first order of business, after a snack. Thanks to this help from Lafayette students, 91% of the kids at the Center are at least average in math, and 82% are average or better in reading.

The Center also feeds children. Contrary to what you might have been told, times are tough, especially for single moms and dads trying to support their children on one income. You might say the parents are jerks who need to learn personal responsibility, but even if that’s true, those kids still need to eat. The Center provides 1,500 meals per month to these children. On weekends, some of the kids are sent home with a “back back buddy,” a knapsack containing food and other necessaries.

The Center needs laptops, a copy machine, computer games, and books. This Summer, they’ll have a 9 to 5 program offering both breakfast and lunch and they’d like to buy a van for field trips. If you’d like to help with supplies, your time or some money, give Program Director Bonnie Buncher a call at 610-253-8271.