The Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund teams up with local human service agency personnel in Fall River to organize a Family Fun Day. This year's event took place at the Boys & Girls Club on April 29, 2006, and included representatives from over a dozen local programs that serve children in the city. The highlight of the day was the opportunity for youngsters to try their hand at milking a real cow brought to the Bedford Street location just for the occasion. The Children's Trust Fund works to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect throughout the Commonwealth. Fall River has been active in helping to reduce the number of incidents reported to the Department of Social Services by providing assistance to parents through a variety of programs including a Parents Helping Parents program, the Healthy Families Collaborative, the Family Service Association's Big Friends Little Friends program, United Families and the  WIC (Women, Infants, Children) Nutrition Program.
 

(Top row, left) Sherry Medeiros, Nancy Dimock and Debra Simansky offer information about Parents Helping Parents, a self-help support group for parents that is free and confidential. (Top row, center) Lauren Blackmon displays a plant holder that she decorated at the Healthy Families table. Beverly Souza,RN, Director of the Early Intervention Partnership Program, which provides home visiting services to at risk mothers, stands behind her. Early Intervention is one of three programs run by People, Inc. which also operates the Greater Fall River Early Intervention Program. (Top row, right) Joanne Camara watches Melissa Gendreau of the WIC program demonstrate proper tooth brushing techniques on a stuffed toy animal. (Middle row, left) Ramona Turcotte of the Family Service Association Big Friends Little Friends program demonstrates bead craft. (Middle row, right, from left) Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. greets Saksen Stevens of the Childrens Trust Fund, Donalda Silva organizer of the Fall River Families Together event, and State Representative Michael Rodrigues. (Bottom row, left) Jenny Rulison of United Families offers copies of  a Summer Recreation guide to some of the event participants. (Bottom row, center and right) Fascinated boys try their hand at milking a cow for the first time outside the Boys & Girls Club location on Bedford Street.