Vanguard’s signature charitable initiative – the Strong Start for Kids Program – has awarded Drexel University’s West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning (AFEL) with a three-year, $1.63 million grant that will help to improve the quality of early childhood education in that area.

Carra Cote-Ackah, Director of Vanguard’s Community Stewardship efforts, and Drexel President John Fry celebrated the announcement among families from the community at the Drexel Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships.

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“The Vanguard Strong Start for Kids Program is proud to support improvements in early childhood education through Drexel’s West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning,” said Cote-Ackah. “Research has demonstrated that investments made early in children’s lives can set them on the path toward more successful life outcomes, and we’re delighted to help provide more high-quality opportunities for young children to learn, grow, and thrive in our local communities.”

The grant from Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids Program will be supporting initiatives with AFEL’s Family Ambassador program, helping to reach more families in the Promise Neighborhood, as well as implementing an AFEL “Family University” to create a community-based parenting education program modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone to support family knowledge-building.

Vanguard’s Strong Start for Kids Program is committed to giving back to the areas in which Vanguard crew (employees) live and work. It was recently named among The Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2018 “Faces of Philanthropy” for awarding The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with more than $3 million in grants that will help serve children of low socioeconomic status and solve barriers facing children and families in the Philadelphia region.

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