Community 1st donates $25,000 toward child care center

The Community 1st Credit Union Foundation has awarded $25,000 to the Jefferson County Kids Early Childhood Learning Center in Fairfield.

The Jefferson County Kids Early Childhood Learning Center donation will help with the capital campaign to build a new facility to accommodate the need for additional childcare spaces and resources in the Fairfield community.

The new facility will be 14,000 square feet, and hold up to 185 children at its peak. It will be built on an empty lot on Libertyville Road on the south side of Fairfield.

'We understand and fully support the impact this new Early Childhood Learning Center will have in Fairfield and Jefferson County.” said Greg Hanshaw, CEO of Community 1st Credit Union, 'Partnering with local organizations to promote community betterment is really what our credit union philosophy of ‘People Helping People' is all about. We look forward to watching this project unfold soon.”

Community 1st grant-funded project awards are made possible through the Community 1st Credit Union Impact Giving Fund of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

Community 1st Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative with more than $800 million in assets. The credit union, established in 1936, serves more than 61,000 members.

C1st has more than 230 employees and is headquartered in Ottumwa. The credit union has branches in Albia, Bloomfield, Cedar Rapids, Centerville, Chariton, Fairfield, Grinnell, Indianola, Knoxville, Mt. Pleasant, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Pella and Washington. With an additional branch scheduled to open in Osceola, Iowa in summer of 2021.

Jefferson County Kids was formed following a 2018 study that found Jefferson County had a deficit of over 500 child care spaces. Currently, Jefferson County Kids, Inc. is working on a $3.5 million capital campaign and fundraising effort to fund the construction of the center. In January, the Fairfield City Council annexed the portion of land on Libertyville Road into the city limits that Jefferson County Kids plans to build on. One month prior in December 2019, Jefferson County Health Center donated 3.5 acres west of its campus for the development.