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ACLAMO Family Centers Newsletter
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Providing our community with the services and skills for success
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MARCH 20141
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From The Executive Director:
It's difficult to put into words the tremendous contribution of the ACLAMO Board of Directors. From sports figures to prison wardens, business people to academics, each member brings his/her unique set of talents to ACLAMO. This month, we are showcasing a current and former Board member. My thanks to all of you!
Also, please save the date and register for our 5th annual Faces of Hope celebration, scheduled for Tuesday, May 20th, at the Club at Shannondell in Audubon. This year promises many wonderful surprises.
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YOU ARE INVITED
TO CELEBRATE
ACLAMO´S FAMILY
LITERACY PROGRAM!!
Latin music, a breakfast buffet, and academic regalia will combine as we celebrate the children and their parents who are graduating from ACLAMO´s Family Literacy Program this year.
Dr. F. Javier Cevallos will preside over the graduation. Dr. Cevallos was born in Cuenca, Ecuador, and is now President of Kutztown University. He and ACLAMO share the goal of supporting students as they prepare for and then move through elementary and secondary school. Our dream is that many of our students will follow the examples of Dr. Cevallos and others who are making major contributions to their families and communities.
The event will be a part of the Fifth Annual Faces of Hope benefit breakfast and will be held on May 20th at The Club at Shannondell. The breakfast buffet will begin at 7:30 a.m. The program will start at 8:00 a.m. and will end at 9:00 a.m.
There is no cost to attend, but we ask you to bring your generosity and your checkbook!
Seating is limited, so please respond promptly when contacted by a table captain or reserve a place by sending ACLAMO a confirmation e-mail.
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ACLAMO AQUARIUM TRIP
After weeks of reading, and learning about marine animals, members of the ACLAMO Family Literacy program culminated their studies with a trip to the Camden Aquarium.This field trip offered a respite from the winter chills and is the perennial favorite trip of ACLAMO families. Ripe with opportunities to see, hear and touch creatures of the sea, both child and parent thoroughly enjoyed and learned from this wonderful experience. Five year old Miranda, surveying the enormous marine tanks of giant turtles, sharks and manta rays gliding by, exclaimed with a sense of awe,"It's wonderful!"
Director of Childhood Education, Linda Maldonado noted, "Without the discounted tickets and bus fares, such trips would be beyond the budget of most our families, and yet such experiences have a lasting and profound impact on the children's learning."
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ACLAMO BOARD MEMBER IS GRAND MARSHALL OF PHILADELPHIA ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE
 Former Eagles General Manager and ACLAMO Board Member, Jim Murray, is greeted by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput prior to the 2014 Philadelphia St. Patrick´s Day Parade. Jimmy was honored to be the Grand Marshall at this year's festivities.
In addition to ACLAMO, Jim Murray is active in numerous charitable organizations which include the Eagles Fly For Leukemia, and is also co-founder of the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia.
Photograph by Michael Bryant, Philadelphia Daily News staff.
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GIRL SCOUTS AT ACLAMO
During ACLAMO´s 2013 Summer Bridge Program, the Girl Scouts began a Brownie troop with the younger girls. This program has continued during ACLAMO´s After School Program on Wednesdays.
 | | As they plan for a skit, four Brownies discuss how they will illustrate the part of the Girl Scout Law "I will do my best to be ... courageous and strong." |
The Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania includes ACLAMO Family Centers as one of its funded organizations, so this program is offered to our students at no cost. The current program cycle includes working through an activity/learning book called "Brownie Quest", which contains activities geared toward earning triangle badges. Kristi Simkins, a 12-year veteran Girl Scout leader heads the program, which also uses volunteers.
Twenty-two girls are enrolled and arrive after school, eager to begin each meeting. When asked, they say they particularly enjoy working toward earning the badges, writing in a journal, and the different games each week.
While the Brownies are meeting, the boys work on homework in another part of the building. "Let´s start a Boy Scout troop," one boy suggests with a grin.
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Personal Profile: Julio Algarin
MONTGOMERY COUNTY WARDEN
HAS LOCKED ON TO ACLAMO
Combining a genuine love for people and a gritty commitment to law and order, Julio Algarin is the ideal person to serve as Warden of Montgomery County´s Correctional Facility. In addition to serving on the ACLAMO Board of Directors from 2007 through 2010, he today supervises 238 uniformed officers and manages a budget of 32 million dollars. "I even keep my cell phone with me at dinner and on my night table. My wife understands," he says with a grin.
 Born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, he moved with his mother to Montgomery County after a stint in the U.S. Marines and has been here almost ever since. "I love this county," he says enthusiastically, "I get great support from the Commissioners and the President Judge. I can´t ask for more."
Montgomery County can´t ask for more either. After serving as a uniformed officer in the prison system for 39 years, he was selected as Warden 9 years ago. He knows all sides of his job. He had his face badly smashed by an inmate many years ago and yet knows the importance of treating each inmate as a person. And he knows that keeping young people out of prison is the key. He regularly makes presentations in high schools and youth organizations and encourages youth groups to visit the prison. When he was greeting a group of students at the prison some years ago, one student recognized Algarin from a high school presentation. When the young man saw Julio, his face lit up and he greeted the warden by name. "I was really touched," Algarin recalls.
Algarin has been a supporter of ACLAMO since the 1970s when ACLAMO began. "My parents, Carmen and Eddie Echeverria, were among the founders of ACLAMO and today I do all I can to help. ACLAMO is a great organization!"
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ACLAMO celebrates its 37th year of providing economic, educational, health and cultural opportunities for low-income residents of Norristown and Pottstown, especially those of Spanish language heritage.
ACLAMO stands for Accíon Comunal Latinoamericana de Montgomery County, or Latin American Community Action of Montgomery County. ACLAMO is derived from the Spanish word "aclamar," which means "to acclaim."
ACLAMO Family Centers ACLAMO Family Centers
512 W. Marshall Street 515 Walnut Street
Norristown, PA 19401 Pottstown, PA 19464
610-277-2570 610-970-2134
aclamo.org
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