A fun afternoon of books, bubbles and hands-on learning gave employees a meaningful way to support some of Lynchburg’s youngest learners through HumanKind’s Early Head Start program.

The event celebrated the expansion of HumanKind’s Early Head Start facilities, supported in part by a $75,000 grant from the Appalachian Power Foundation. The foundation gift allowed the agency to double their Headstart enrollment.

Founded more than 100 years ago as an orphanage that cared for as many as 100 children at a time, HumanKind now provides wraparound services that help families thrive, including child care, parental support, vehicle loans, workforce development, financial coaching and foster care.

Appalachian Power employees helped bring the celebration to life with a hands-on family experience centered on literacy, curiosity and early childhood learning. At one station, children experimented with water wheels, funnels and flowing water to see how movement creates motion. At another, they decorated and explored pinwheels while learning how moving air can make objects move.

The Lynchburg's mobile public library also joined the event, along with Craveables Ice Cream, a business that supports employment for people with intellectual disabilities, who provided children with a sweet snack.

Each child left with a present from their friends at APCo, a toddler-proof indestructible story book.

Take a minute to watch this heartwarming video from the event.