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My child won’t be able to attend all five nights, is this a problem? My child has allergies, how do you handle this? How is my registration fee used? Are t-shirts guaranteed? How are children grouped together? Do the parents eat with the children? What should I do from 5:30 to 8:15 each evening during VBS? I have more questions, whom do I ask?

My child won’t be able to attend all five nights, is this a problem? No, your child will benefit from Vacation Bible School by attending either one evening or all five. While we do encourage attendance all five evenings to attain the full benefit from the program, it is designed with a different Bible story and corresponding activity each evening allowing your child to still feel comfortable with us even if she (he) misses some of the program. My child has allergies, how do you handle this? Our dinner menu is posted but is subject to change. Food allergies should be handled by feeding your child before coming to VBS. Due to the increasing number of allergies, we no longer provide snacks during the evening. An alternate suggestion would be providing your child with their own meal at VBS but this sometimes causes problems among the other children so is not encouraged. Other allergies are handled as needed. Some of our VBS volunteers are registered nurses or EMT’s. It is important to provide allergy information on the registration form along with appropriate response measures. Children with allergies are given a “special color-coded badge each evening and all of our volunteers are aware allergies are involved. How is my registration fee used? We ask for this donation to help offset the costs of running a VBS. At First Church, we believe no child should be excluded from learning about God, therefore no child will be excluded for non-payment. Volunteering your time with one of the activity centers or contributing canned/paper goods to the Food Bank are other ways to donate to the program. If circumstances just don’t allow any of the above, please bring your child anyway! If asked by registration volunteers, it is perfectly alright to respond that you are unable to donate this year. You may also contact the VBS Director, Karen Lillie, directly to make arrangements at 610-565-4361. Are t-shirts guaranteed? The t-shirts provided with our VBS program are donated by one of our church members. To ensure your child receives a t-shirt, pre-registration with attendance is required. While our sponsor orders extra shirts for each age group, the counts are taken from those children who pre-register and then based upon those who attend all five evenings, then calculated in a descending order. Every effort is made for each child to receive a shirt! How are children grouped together? Children are placed in age appropriate groups based on the last grade completed. There are four age groups: Preschool (3-4) Kindergarten (5-6) Grades 1-2 (7-8), and Grades 3-4-5(9-12). The nursery is open if pre-registration has occurred for siblings under 3, otherwise, the nursery is not staffed and those volunteers are used elsewhere. If a preference is requested to place your child with a neighbor/friend/cousin, please ask before VBS begins. We try to accommodate these requests but must watch our staff/child ratios. Age is also taken into consideration. It is difficult to place a preschooler in the 3-4-5 grade class without added staffing and adjustments. For instance, games and crafts are geared towards the age group involved. Do the parents eat with the children? We would love to share our meal with you, unfortunately, due to late registrations in previous years, where we ran short of food, we ask that the VBS children and VBS volunteers eat first. The kitchen staff will then announce if food is available for parents/guardians. What should I do from 5:30 to 8:15 each evening during VBS? Call a friend, Have dinner with your spouse, Run errands, Meditate, Food Shopping, Read, Go to the gym, Join Adult VBS group, The list is endless!! I have more questions, whom do I ask? Feel free to email me your questions at kml324@aol.com. Please put VBS Questions in the subject line. If you add your phone number and best time to call, I will call you if you prefer. Emails will be answered promptly within 24 hours of receipt.