The United Way of the Lower Mainland currently funds the Middle Childhood Matters Standing Committee that serves Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and Katzie. In a collaborative effort, the Ridge Meadows Early Childhood Development Committee and The Middle Childhood Committee have collaborated by sharing this website in order to host information for families with children 0 to 12 in one place. The MCM initiative is in its third year of work and is a sub committee of the Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Katzie Community Network.. Please watch as the MCM portion of the website grows as we add more key information to aid families with children from 6 to 12 years.

Below is information taken from United Way's website regarding the importance of supporting children between the years of 6 and 12. Below this excerpt is a link to our new 'What's On Quarterly' that lists services, programs and events that are low cost or free for families with children in their middle years.

About Children 6 to 12

Research shows that children in their middle childhood years (age 6-12) are experiencing an increased sense of isolation and are disconnected from the community.

What does this mean?

Kids who feel disconnected often have low self-esteem and may spend too much time home alone. As a result, they run the risk of injury, bullying, suicide, crime and gang violence, such as the kind we’ve seen escalate on our streets and in our neighbourhoods.

Reaching children before they make the wrong choices is a key part of United Way’s prevention-based approach to address the underlying causes of issues such as bullying, violence and crime.

Helping Kids 6 to 12

United Way’s goal: To ensure children 6-12 are healthy, happy and resilient.

United Way of the Lower Mainland supports innovative initiatives that are helping children develop the capacity to make wise future choices. For example, by supporting community schools, after-school programs, innovative tutoring services and research forums to broaden awareness for future action, United Way is helping to create child-friendly neighbourhoods.

By helping kids get the best possible start in life, United Way sets them on the right path, helping to prevent future problems such as school drop-out and crime.

Our work is guided by our community impact model. It is the four strategies of engaging communities, strengthening non-profits, focusing on root causes, and influencing the decision-making environment that allow us to reach our goal of helping children in their middle childhood years.

We are committed to tracking and evaluating how your dollars make a difference in the lives of people and our communities. Demonstrating the impact of your gift also enables United Way to continue to make wise and prudent investment choices to ensure the greatest return for our community and your generous investment.