Campus Childcare Centre serves up Thanksgiving meal, opens new location

The Campus Childcare Centre (CCC) celebrated the official opening of its new location on October 7 by hosting a Thanksgiving turkey lunch with all the trimmings for the 47 children in its care, their families and other community members.

"Quality childcare includes parental involvement, and the Thanksgiving meal was a perfect opportunity to allow parents to visit the new centre and enjoy some time with their children," said Carrieann Knapp, Supervisor, CCC, who along with three other staff members, spent the day before the event cooking the two 14-kilogram turkeys that would feed the 113 people in attendance. "We like to make it a community and family affair. We’re thankful to be in the new centre and happy with the opportunities we’ve been given, so this seemed like an appropriate way to kick things off."

The daycare, which serves students and staff of both the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and Durham College, as well as local families, was previously located at 2069 Simcoe Street North in Oshawa, but has moved to 202 Simcoe Street North to be as close as possible to the midpoint between the university’s north and downtown Oshawa locations.

CCC has a long-standing reputation as being one of the best daycares in the community, with several unique characteristics that set it apart from other daycare centres. While most childcare facilities only require one fully-qualified early childhood educator (ECE) staff member in each room of care, all of CCC’s 14 staff members are ECE-qualified – including the cook. The centre also caters to students’ and staff’s schedules by offering special evening programs during the school year’s busy periods, such as exam time.

So far, the feedback on the new location has been positive. “Everyone likes the space we’re in – it has that old-school feel,” said Knapp, referring to the red-brick building, formerly a Catholic school. CCC is accepting new children to fill the five classrooms that are currently in use. There are also plans to improve the playground area in the spring.

"The biggest thing we’ve heard is that the parents really like the staff and the way we interact with the children," she added. "We're a really good quality childcare centre, we’re here, we’re open and we’re ready to serve."

CCC also launched a food drive for the St. Vincent de Paul food bank that runs out of St. Gregory’s Auditorium next door. Families were asked to bring a non-perishable food item when they attended the Thanksgiving event. "We’re trying to teach the children that it’s good to give back," said Knapp. "Kids are never too young to be taught that we need to care for others and give to people who aren't as fortunate to have a big meal like we had." The food drive will continue until Thursday, October 31.