Fifth District U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-Watauga) pauses for a photo with (from left) Andy Brown, a board member of Easter Seals UCP, and C.L. Cochran, president and chief executive office of Easter Seals.

Foxx speaks at opening event

Noting a “soft spot in my heart for child care centers,” Congresswoman Virginia Foxx was featured as a speaker at the June 2 open house of Alleghany Developmental Day.

The day care center is a non-profit organization which is the county’s only five-star rated center. It serves children with and without disabilities and is partially funded by Easter Seals, the Partnership for Children and other groups.

The day care was formerly located on Health Services Road, but moved to its new location on Andrews Ridge Road in late December 2004. The new location was made available due to a donation by Arthur and Susan Barber of Boone and was purchased by Easter Seals UCP.

Recalling days working at Mayland Community College, Foxx told the audience of about 20 people that students at the college told her they needed a child care center on campus.

“Mayland was out in the middle of nowhere, a lot like you are, and we didn’t have any money at all,” Foxx said. “But we had a masonry program at the prison. The masonry instructor came to me and said, ‘If you’ll raise the money to build the child care center, I’ll talk the correction people into letting me bring the prisoners down here to build it.’”

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