The kindergarten kickstart program at Southwest Early Childhood Center has been postponed due to timing issues and a lack of traction.
The Jefferson City Commission on Human Relations and EER - a gifted elementary and middle school program inside the SWECC - had planned to host a fundraiser for school supplies for incoming kindergartners April 23. However, organizers are postponing it to the fall.
The organizers do not have a fall date set yet, Mitchell Woodrum, commission chairman, said Friday.
With the school year coming to an end, the event was not gaining enough traction and was being "crammed" among other events, Woodrum said.
For the original dinner fundraiser, Hy-Vee was set to cater food and EER students planned to serve food and wait on tables. Tickets were set at $10 for adults and $2.50 for children.
The funds raised would go toward purchasing backpacks and school supplies, which EER students would provide to graduating SWECC preschool children.
The program would help economically disadvantaged students receive school supplies while allowing EER students to interact with people from different backgrounds, EER elementary teacher Gregory Medlin said last fall.
The commission planned to purchase food and help set up the event, commissioner Jane Barnes said. The proceeds and tips would go to the EER kindergarten kickstart program, she added.
"It's been really hard to get traction, and there's just not enough interest for us to contribute our monetary piece of it," she said.
By holding it at the beginning of the school year, Woodrum said, there may be more interest.
"Any time we're using city money, taxpayer money, we need to be very careful how we use it and I think it's much more useful of taxpayer money and the school by doing it at the beginning of the (school) year," he said.