Family Support Center Hosts Family Fun Fest
Photo by Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING - Residents of all ages gathered at Oglebay Village on Saturday when the Ohio County Family Support Center hosted its first Family Fun Fest.
The event held specifically for families from Oglebay Village and Wheeling Station featured an afternoon of food, music, games and more.
A program of the Ohio County Family Resource Network, the Ohio County Family Support Center provides family activities, parenting programs, connections to community resources and other support for local families with children.
"A lot of the families that live at Oglebay Village and Wheeling Station don’t have transportation, and we wanted to be able to bring resources to them," said Claudia Raymer McKay, executive director of the Ohio County Family Resource Network. "A huge piece of what we’re doing today is one-on-one surveys to find out what type of programming they’d be interested in."
McKay noted that in addition to the fun activities celebrating the end of summer and beginning of fall, the Family Fun Fest was a chance to gather input from parents to learn about their needs, what they like about living in Ohio County, what they would like to see offered to local families and other first-hand information from the families these programs serve.
"We really want to see what the strengths are and maybe some areas where we can improve and fill some gaps," McKay said, noting that the connection with local parents is key to developing resources and events for the coming year. "We want them to know our faces and know our names. Part of building that relationship is parent engagement and having meaningful conversations."
Information gathered this weekend will be used to help guide future programming.
"Parents know what works for their families, and as always, we want their voices to be part of how we decide what comes next," McKay said. "We can come up with all kinds of ideas, but the best way to know what families will actually find helpful or what to participate in is to ask them."
Family Fun Fest was free for participating families. The event featured prizes, hot dogs, drinks and chips from Midge’s Kitchen, along with popcorn, cupcakes, games and activities, as well as visits from children’s characters Jessie the Cowgirl and Princess Anna from "Frozen."
"It’s been a great turnout," McKay said. "We’re so excited. Anytime we do an event for the first time, we realize that we’re taking a chance. But we are thrilled with the turnout."
To learn more about the Ohio County Family Support Center, the Ohio County Family Resource Networks and the programs offered to the community, visit www.ocfrn.com.