Kids & Family
Newport Officer Reads for East Bay Community Action Head Start
Newport Police Officer, Nicholas St. Lawrence – Fostering Positive Community Relationships Reading to Kids
Newport Police Officer Nicholas St. Lawrence had started reading to children in East Bay Community Action Program’s (EBCAP) Head Start preschool classrooms prior to the state's closures of childcare centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, St. Lawrence had been scheduled to read to kids every Wednesday as part of his goal of spreading a positive message about the relationship between police and the community.
Thinking outside the box, this Community Police Officer of Newport’s North End and father of young children, found a way to keep reading. He recently created and uploaded a video of himself reading Would You Rather be a Bullfrog?, a Dr. Seuss book. In the video St. Lawrence can be seen in his police uniform turning pages and reading the story aloud. He concludes telling his viewers he hopes everyone is staying safe and that he looks forward to reading to them again in the future.
Thanks to Officer St. Lawrence’s dedication and compassion, the video will now be shared with EBCAP’s Head Start Families and on EBCAP’s and the Newport Police Department’s social media. “We hope the video goes viral,” said Dianne Farrar, EBCAP’s Family Engagement Specialist with the organization’s Head Start Program.
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Farrar salutes Officer St. Lawrence’s one small act of kindness which she thinks has touched the hearts of many during this trying time. She said, “It reminds us to all have hope, and for that we thank Officer St. Lawrence.” To watch the full video on YouTube, please click here.
East Bay Community Action Program is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation that provides a wide array of health and human services to the residents of Rhode Island’s east bay including the municipalities of: East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport and Jamestown. For more information regarding services and to learn how you too can Support the CAP which supports the East Bay community, please visit ebcap.org.