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Hank Poore Foundation gives inclusion kits to Rise Center families
The Hank Poore Foundation wants to make it easier for groups in the Tuscaloosa community to be able to include people with varying abilities in their activities. The Rise Center wanted to help the foundation get its message out.
The collaboration produced an Aug. 15 ice cream social loaded with smiles dripping with the remains of the frozen confections and all the new Rise families received packages from the foundation containing helpful tips to make it inclusion easier. Organizers want the families to be the first to receive the packages and hope to distribute others in the community.
Ashley Ferry, executive director of the Hank Poore Foundation, said, "We applied for a grant with the Tombigbee RC&D Council so we could collaborate with Rise on this parent support program. We worked with some of the staff and teachers here at Rise and we created an inclusion kit that parents can take and use."
The kit includes a children's book written by Kelly Gregory, titled, "Say Hello." Also in the kit are suggestions, tips and pamphlets, stickers and magnets to help people learn how to make inclusion a normal part of life.
More: Rise Center preschool program celebrates 50 years at University of Alabama
"The idea with the book is if you see someone who is different or has different abilities, just say 'Hello,' be a friend," Ferry said.
"What we really envision is parents can take this kit and give it to a coach, or a dance teacher, or an art teacher and say, 'Here are some tools to help you be more inclusive in what you do,' " Ferry said.
The author of the book provided a substantial discount to the foundation and the grant from the RC&D Foundation was $10,000, allowing the foundation to create 325 kits. Parents attending the back-to-school ice cream social were given the kits to take and use.
For more information about the Hank Poore Foundation, go to For more information about the Rise Center, go to
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Foundation's kits help make inclusion an everyday part of life
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