Reaching beyond REACH—One of the most fun new programs to talk about this year has been the Art Truck. It started with a small grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation. The idea, developed by a previous VISTA volunteer, Jessica Swisher, blossomed into REACH being the proud owner of this small box truck and having a great way to take art education around town!

Last summer the Art Truck program went into high gear — with three Americorps VISTA Summer Associates, and volunteers planning and implementing lessons, prepping materials and taking it all on the road to 4 different Lansing Parks and Recreation sites 4 days a week, through the summer.

An average of 138 kids experienced art with Art Truck twice each week. That’s 940 kids visited twice over the 7 weeks of the progam. Special thanks to our SAs—Hailey Chenevert, John Szilagyi, and Natalie Walicki.