Knightlight Communications, a group of Marshall University public relations students, raised approximately $750 Thursday for River Valley Child Development Services’ scholarship program.

River Valley provides high quality early childhood care and education services for children.

Knightlight raised the money by collecting clothing donations and other items for Goodwill, who, in return, will present the cash donation to the scholarship program.   

The scholarship is called TIPS, which stands for Tuition Investment Program Support. The scholarship goes to families who may not be able to afford the full tuition cost.

Suzi Brodof, executive director for River Valley, said the TIPS program has been around for six years and has assisted numerous families with the cost of tuition.

“It’s not just the low-income families, like what you might think,” Brodof said. “Because for the families with the lowest income, there is LINK, which helps provides subsidy. But it’s the people that just miss out on that help that are the ones who struggle the most. And there are a lot of people that fall into that category. So, unfortunately, what happens is as soon as someone might get that 25 cent raise, it’s just enough to get them out of any type of help. And that’s why we came up with the TIPS program to help families that want their kids to get into a quality program. And why shouldn’t they? They’re entitled to it just like anybody else.”

Amy McCallister-Ethel, a member of the Knightlight team, said she knows first-hand how difficult keeping up with the tuition fees can be.

McCallister-Ethel had two children attending River Valley before her family recently moved out of the area.

“It’s hard to afford the true cost of a program like River Valley,” McCallister-Ethel said. “So, the TIPS scholarship helps the families who don‘t qualify for state assistance for a subsidy, but that cannot afford the true cost of a program like this. Because of the quality of the program, there’s more cost involved. The staff get paid more because River Valley value their staff. A lot of them are college educated. And because they value their staff and provide them with benefits, the cost is considerably more.”

Despite the high tuition cost, McCallister-Ethel said she and her husband felt the program was well worth it.

“For us, it was about $165 per week per kid,” McCallister-Ethel said. “That was our fee, and I can only speak for ourselves. Yeah, it sounds expensive, but for what you’re getting, to me, it was so worth it. They provide healthy meals to the children. They have a STEM room, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math. And most of their staff have college degrees. For example, the toddler teacher that taught my two year old, she had a Master’s degree. I think around 80 percent of the staff there have a college degree. It’s not like you’re going there just to have your kid watched. They’re being taught things, they’re learning. And that’s what River Valley offers.”

Malcolm Walton can be contacted at [email protected].