Eastern Cowley County Resource Center

 ECCRC is a 501-C  Non-Profit Community Resource Center.

Eastern Cowley County Resource Center

 ECCRC   PO Box 40  Dexter, KS 67038 - 104 S. Main in Dexter

(620) 212-8582.       (OFFICE IN BACK BY ALLEY)

Serving our local communities with Educational & Social services.

MERCHANT CIRCLE WEB PAGE: http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Eastern.Cowley.County.Resource.Center.620-876-5614  Library photos on the web page. Please visit & leave comment.

ECCRC provides literacy help for adults & children, Resume Writing help, job search assistance, Technology Certificate program, computer skills workshops, community food bank & Thanksgiving fox box distribution, E-Bay Workshops, Creative Writing Workshops, AA groups, Grief Support groups,  Job-Loss Support groups, and Case Management services for assistance with GED Preparation, High School online diploma completion programs, and resources for home-school and private school families.

Our programs are offered to you free of charge or for a low workshop fee.ECCRC receives no Government funding and these services are made possible by public donations. Pay it forward when you can. THANKS! ECCRC, PO Box 40, Dexter, KS 67038.

UPDATES COMING SOON - check back for library photo updates & more information: Lighthouse Library construction is coming along great! Loft & stairs are in the main library part. Roof 1/2 on main part. Roof going on Treasure Chest this week!! Sheetrock & remaining doors being delivered this week. Targeted opening for Grouse Valley Lodge is mid August. Targeted opening for Treasure Chest - August 30. Targeted opening for Lighthouse Library - September 23, 2009. Fall computer workshops being scheduled. Writing workshops & retreat - to be announced soon. Look for us at the BLACKDOG FESTIVAL - Annual Benefit Breakfast.

FOOD BANK: If you need food, let us know. Our community food bank is available to Dexter residents - or anyone who needs food. Canned food donations accepted.

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JOB LOSS SUPPORT GROUP:

Vent about your job loss. Form an action plan. Meet with like-minded individuals. Non-judgemental group. Many services available. Career Assessments. Resume Writing assistance. Assistance with college entrance or high school diploma completion. Computer skills workshops. eccresourcecenter@yahoo.com to sign up for the group. NO COST. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ECCRC BLOG: http://eccrc-advocate-lighthouselibrary.blogspot.com/

Twitter: ECCRCAdvocate

HELP WANTED:  Need licensed electrician to wire the library buildings. Please e-mail for more information: eccresourcecenter@yahoo.com

Your continued donations will assure the completion of the many ECCRC Projects. These are difficult financial times for everyone & your financial gifts go 100% to ECCRC programs. ECCRC is run by volunteers with no paid staff. No other organization could appreciate the small donations of $3.00 or $5.00 or $10.00. We understand that in today's economy, it is a huge sacrifice for each donation received. THANK YOU for helping us build a library for our hometown at Dexter, Kansas and for keeping our community food bank open.

THANK YOU to Joe Haggard for his auction service during the ECCRC Benefit Auction. Proceeds go to the Lighthouse Library building project. $1,500 were raised. Also THANK YOU to Rita Krug who served as the bookkeeper. THANK YOU to Hazel Young and Eula Mae Martin for manning the kitchen for the breakfast that morning.

CAR - SILENT AUCTION: We  have a 1989 Blue (original paint) Crusler LaBaron with 54,000 actual miles. Was kept in a garage. Runs great!  Car donated to ECCRC for Lighthouse Library fund. To bid on the car, e-mail ECCRC at: eccresourcecenter@yahoo.com and put "CAR BID" in the subject line.

PLEASE FIX OUR ECCRC VAN: We still need a volunteer to look at our ECCRC Van to get it on the road & working. We need it to haul food for the food bank & to haul books & items for the Treasure Chest Thrift Store. If you are a mechanic, please volunteer your time. We can get the van to your shop. THANK YOU!!

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SPONSORS Needed for this summer to host volunteer work crews. The crews will come & do work on the Lighthouse Library. We need meals to feed a crew of several volunteers each week who will be working on the Lighthouse Library building project.

The Lighthouse Library project, a community library for the small rural Kansas town of Dexter, has been very humbling. Each time things seemed hopeless, an angel appeared in the form of an encouraging letter and a small donation, a neighbor, a hard-working volunteer, a corporation who sent a crew for the day, a business who loaned out equipment or supplies, or someone who donated a delicious  pie to that day's volunteer crew. THANK YOU. You know who each of you are.

 Soon this lighthouse will be set upright on the Lighthouse Library site. A prayer is sent up with each new sunrise until the project is completed. Please join with us in this journey to build a library for our town.

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LOCAL AUTHOR SIGNS BOOK CONTRACT: 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Lynn Pettigrew Norris has signed a book contract and has a book coming out this summer. She is donating a portion of those proceeds to ECCRC. The book, WHIPPOORWILL: Journey Through Grief, addresses the subject of loss in many forms. These include Job Loss, Loss of a loved one through death, loss of your health, and many other losses. To reserve your copy of this book, e-mail Lynn at: shipwreck57@yahoo.com  Reserved copies will be signed by the author. Book signing in Wichita later this summer. Lynn started the ECCELL Diploma Completion Program that is in Sumner, Cowley, and Chautauqua Counties in Kansas and she served as the Education Specialist in Wichita for the Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas where she developed and implemented the Education program for that large association. She is a licensed Secondary English Teacher and serves as the Director of ECCRC. She has taught college English courses at Cowley College, KS and at Wayne College, NC. She serves as the Editor/Publisher of the ADVOCATE . Lynn is currently completing a second manuscript,  Get Your College Degree: A Non-Traditional Guide. A portion of the proceeds from Lynn's writing projects go to help fund ECCRC. Lynn has left the corporate world in order to donate more time to ECCRC projects this summer and to her local community. Follow her on Twitter as: ShipwreckWriter.

E-mail Lynn at shipwreck57@yahoo.com for more information.

 To have your business featured here, please e-mail ECCRC with details of something new that you are doing for our local communities.  Photos welcome. Send to: eccresourcecenter@yahoo.com No fee for publication on web page.

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Click on Side Tabs for ECCRC program information & updates. We have lots of photos to upload when time permits.

EXCITING SUMMER For ECCRC

This summer ECCRC hopes to open their doors to portions of the Lighthouse Library project in Dexter, KS. The Grouse Valley Lodge is nearing completion & summer reservations are being booked. In addition to the lodge, ECCRC has access to RV sites and tent camper sites. These new travel-stay options will be available in the future. One RV site will be available as soon as mid-June, 2009 along with limited tent camping. Proceeds go 100% back into ECCRC projects. For more information or to reserve a room in th lodge or RV site, e-mail ECCRC at: eccresourcecenter@yahoo.com

This summer we hope to accomplish the following:

• OPEN GROUSE VALLEY LODGE
• Erect the 25-Ft. Working Lighthouse on the site.
• Start accepting reservations for RV Site & Tent Camping
• Open TREASURE CHEST Thrift Store - Donations of quality household items and gently used clothing are currently being accepted. This susataining project helps fund Lighthouse Library & the ECCRC Community Food Bank & Thanksgiving Food Box Distribution. Open in time for Back-To-School Shopping & Vacation shopping.
• Seal in Lighthouse Library Building & move 20,000 book collection onto the site
• Annual Neighbor's Grief Support Group Summer Picnic - Burden City Park

By Early Fall - Join Us In the Following:

• Writer's Conference  -  Three-day event - Learn Creative Writing skills and meet several published writers, guests and speakers for the conference. Check back for more information. We hope to use the glass meeting room for this event. Registration information, cost, speakers, and conference workshops to be announced.
• Computer Workshops - Learn Computer Skills - Sixth Year of providing these workshops to others.
• Continue Job-Loss Support Group  - e-mail ECCRC to request more information.
• Sponsor Third Annual Freedom Flight - Dexter City Park (Click on Freedom Flight Tab on left for more information.
• Host Benefit Breakfast - Fourth Annual - During Blackdog Festival, Dexter - Biscuits & Gravy, Pancakes, Sausage, & more. No Charge - Freewill donation.

By Winter - Come out & help us accomplish the following:

• Work on Oceanfront Cinema until we get frozen out - Brrrr!
• Work on interior library painting projects & other finish work.
• Build bleachers to seat 35 (a good indoor shop project).
• Work out building outdoor furniture for the Cabana. The Cabana is the name for the refreshment area dedicated for the Dolalar Family Movie Nights. The Cabana will provide popcorn & a summer fruit punch drink at each outdoor movie shown.
• Continue the book cataloging project (great winter project!!).
• Host Christmas In The Valley Open House - 1st Sat. in December
• Host Winter Writer's Conference - Before mid-December in time to provide instructions on creating a literary Christmas gift. "Joys of Journaling".  Look for reservation information since there is limited space for participants at this fun conference. 2-Day event.
• Children's Christmas Vacation Book Club. A mother's day out book club. Drop your child off for this day-camp while you are freed up for time to Christmas shopping. The club will be held directly before Christmas. Check back for exact date & more information. The fireplace in the glass meeting room will be fired up. Children will join Mrs. Claus and some of the Elves for this fun-filled Day Camp. Children will creat a gift for someone special while at the camp. Small fee to cover craft supplies, and educatinoal materials. Limited group size. E-mail ECCRC for more information and to place your child on the waiting list. Children ages four to twelve are welcome. Older children and youth may apply to become volunteer/helpers.

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See what the media is saying about ECCRC Projects:

Winfield Courier: http://www.winfieldcourier.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=29370&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=1

Ark City Traveler Articles: http://www.google.com/search?q=lighthouse+library&hl=en&domains=www.arkcity.net&sitesearch=www.arkcity.net&filter=0

Sites for Beccy Tanner, Wichita Eagle - "Out of the Rubble - A Library For Dexter" article: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=out+of+the+rubble%2C+a+library+for+dexter%2C+wichita+eagle&fp=1

Check out our area shopping. "Shop till you drop" in our own area!!! Check out the possibilities at: http://www.ecccok.com/

Visit Black Dog Web Page at: http://www.blackdogfestival.net/

Visit Dexter, Kansas at: http://www.skyways.kumc.edu/towns/Dexter/index.html

Visit Cambridge, Kansas at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Cambridge/index.html

Visit Burden, Kansas at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Burden/

Visit Atlanta, Kansas at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Atlanta/index.html

The Tisdale community is part of Rural Eastern Cowley County. Tisdale Methodist Church has a great web site. It comes complete with a daily cartoon.

Visit it at: http://www.gbgm-umc.org/tisdale/