Following the announcement by the Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center Board that they need to secure the rest of the funding by April 1st to build a new facility, a new financial campaign is up and running.

P-C Principal Annie Smith says people can now donate to the Heather Lansman Early Childhood Memorial, with the specific goal of closing the funding gap of $430,000 that is left to be secured for the $2 million project. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that it has taken some time to decide on how best to honor the memory of the beloved school secretary who passed away suddenly last year and they thought creating this memorial for the new daycare facility was perfect. 

Smith points out that Lansman started her career with Head Start, she also ran a daycare, taught first grade for several years and most recently was part of the PCELC Board. 

“So as we were just one day kind of thinking about all of those things it was like, ‘Why would we not?’ This was her dream and her passion too. And there’s a lot of great ways to honor people with benches and gardens and that kind of thing, but why not have something that just continues to give over and over again. And that’s the legacy of this daycare that people will utilize forever and ever for these kids that she loved and poured her heart and soul into.”      

The PCELC Board indicates that with the timeline needed to build the permanent modular structure and getting it ready for the beginning of the next school year, all funding must be secured by April 1st. Smith says people can drop off a check to the school at P.O. Box 157 in Churdan, Iowa 50050 or they can use Venmo with her account at Annie-Smith-179. The campaign mentions that if the funding falls short then the money will be used for an Early Childhood Memorial with the school.