PROGRAM TARGETS `CHILDREN OF FLOOD'

The Community Counseling Center of Cape Girardeau has remembered the one population group that can be overlooked by other flood-assistance organizations the children.

"We find that children are living with other relatives, resulting in two to three families in a home designed for a single family," said Ruth Ann Orr, a counselor with the Cape Girardeau public schools and activity coordinator for Community Counseling's children's program. "You're dealing with a lot of stress in that kind of situation.

"So a few of the counselors for the Cape Girardeau public schools called Community Counseling and asked what was being done for the children," she continued. "What we ended up with is a program where we can give the kids a rest from the home situation and the parents a rest from the kids."

Beginning Friday, Community Counseling, in coordination with several area churches, hospitals and charitable organizations, will provide recreational activities for children ages 5 to 18 until the start of school.

"It's all absolutely free for the flood victims," Orr said.

Children will be broken up into two groups: ages 5-10 and ages 11-18.

The younger children will receive day care from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. daily, which will include several recreational activities.

"We have swimming passes from the city, clowns, a magician, movie passes, arts, crafts, a trip to the library and other activities planned for the children," Orr said. "We're even going to have a police officer visit the group."

Lunch and snacks will be provided daily by the American Red Cross.

Bill Askew, a counselor for the Cape Girardeau schools, is in charge of the older group.

The first meeting for youth ages 11-18 will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Centenary Methodist Church. Children are encouraged to stop by and pick up laminated passes good for swimming, bowling, ice skating, movies at Broadway Theatre and to entrance to the Southeast Missouri State University Rec Center.

Two trips to Cardinal baseball games at Busch Stadium in St. Louis are also planned.

To receive a pass or participate in the programming, flood victims must have applied for federal assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and have a case number. Applicants will also be asked about their former and current addresses.

Several community volunteers and churches have come forth offering their services with the children.

Community Counseling will provide bus transportation to and from the center and to various activities for children who require such services.

Intermixed with the fun and games, volunteers will be trained to listen to the children looking for indications of stress, mental fatigue or listlessness and to report it to the counselors.

"Then we can talk to the kids one on one and help them through this time," Askew said.

Counseling representatives plan on spending some time especially with the younger kids explaining the flood to them, talking about what has been happening in the past few weeks and telling them as best they can what to expect in the upcoming weeks.

"We're not going to spend a great deal of time talking about the flood just about 30 minutes every few days," Orr said. "The main purpose of the program is for the kids to have fun and for them to be able to get out of the house for a few hours every day."

The programming lasts from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Anyone with children who have been displaced by the flood and have registered for federal assistance is eligible. For more information, call Community Counseling at 334-1100.