MOUNDS—On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a community block party at the Mounds Black History Museum.

Arrowleaf’s R3 program, the Alexander/Pulaski chapter of the NAACP, the Lions International and the University of Illinois Extension are collaborating on the event. The primary goal is to promote family and community involvement with youth.

“This event is to help the youth develop and build healthy relationships between families and neighborhoods,” said Sarita Sawyer of the U of I Extension.  “And  to increase community involvement with youth because data shows that when youth possess positive assets most do better and are more successful as adults than those youth that do not have those positive connections and assets.”

The event will include a numbers of free items and activities.

• All youth activities are free.
• Hotdogs, Dippin’ Dots, popcorn and water will be given away.
• The Mounds Police Department, Cairo Police Department, vendors and resource tables will be giving away free items.
• Bounce houses will be free.

There is still room available for vendors and resource tables at the event.  For further information or to get involved, contact Sarita Sawyer at 618-306-2324 or ssawyer@illinois.edu.

R3 is short for Restore, Reinvest, and Renew. The R3 service delivery program promotes violence prevention and youth development activities in Alexander and Pulaski counties with a restorative justice lens that focuses on improving community members’ social determinants of health.

Arrowleaf is the Human Services organization in Southern Illinois best positioned to support individuals of all ages so that they can contribute to vibrant and more robust communities. That’s because only Arrowleaf innovates our service offerings to best support the communities’ needs; leads community collaboration to better support the success of each individual we work with; and contributes to community prosperity and tracks economic impact.  For more information visit myarrowleaf.org.