To assist Austin’s child care providers with maintaining safe and clean centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Workforce Solutions Capital Area’s Child Care Services team held a cleaning supplies pickup event on August 21 and 22 at the Travis County Purchasing Warehouse. One hundred fifty-three providers from all around the Austin metro area signed up.
Providers received pallet-sized orders of cleaning supplies—everything from dish soap, sanitizing wipes, gloves, paper towels and more—at no cost. Our team sorted and prepared thousands of pounds of supplies ahead of the pickup days—25,277 pounds, to be exact!
One of the participating centers was Eanes Independent School District, which has two centers with almost 85 children in care, according to Jeannie Young, Child Development Center Coordinator.
“When we closed in March, we left on spring break and never went back. Now we are reopening and one of our concerns was do we have enough supplies to truly operate,” Jeannie said.
“This is a really wonderful gift to make sure we start our year strong and we have plenty of supplies to keep us going while we build up our stock,” she said.
Brianna Hodges is the Center Director at Prodigy Child Development Center, with 83 children in care. “When I heard about this event, I was excited! My prayers have been answered. This is tremendous help,” she said.
What will get cleaned first? “Everything—toys, walls, I mean it all. It all will be cleaned; we are excited to do a deep clean and maintain health and safety,” Brianna said.
“We are very thankful. Thank you again for helping us out and helping our children maintain safety in such a hard time,” said Brianna.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is committed to supporting providers in Austin who care for the children of our region’s workforce. By providing care in a safe and nurturing environment, Austin’s child care providers are helping to develop a future workforce that is skilled and productive. Learn more about how we support child care providers on our website.
