In the corridor

Cape Girardeau has the resources to help the numerous at-risk children who live in the Red Star district and on the city's south side. The Boys and Girls Club, the Salvation Army and the Cape Area Family Resource Center all have programs meant to serve these children. But children living on the south side have difficulty getting to the Boys and Girls Club on Broadway, the Salvation Army has a gymnasium but has not had a facilities director since July, and the family resource center lacks the funding to help all of its targeted populations -- families, elderly people and children.

With the help of a $10,000 start-up grant from Procter & Gamble, these organizations and others have created the River Corridor Task Force with the aim of finding ways to get the resources that already exist in the community to the people who need them.

One supposition is that better funding will start providing answers. We also encourage the task force to enlist the help of the churches who serve these same children.