More than 500 child care providers are licensed in Olmsted County, providing care for more than 5,000 children.
If your child is among those receiving care from an area provider, you'll have a chance to say thank you during the 10th annual Week of the Family Child Care Provider, Sunday through Oct. 18. The week is sponsored by Family Child Care Inc., a local nonprofit organization that works to improve professional development of all family care providers.
The organization will celebrate the week with a banquet, a fund-raising raffle drawing and a display of pink ribbons outside the homes of Olmsted County child care providers.
The 1997 Outstanding Professional Provider, Karen Loegering, will be honored during the group's annual banquet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 1212 12th Ave. N.W. Loegering will also be honored on Oct. 18 in Plymouth, Minn., during the Minnesota Licensed Family Child Care Association Week of the Provider Conference.
Loegering, a retired registered nurse and the mother of five grown children, has been a child care provider for 19 years. She has her master provider credentials and is licensed to care for 12 children.
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She cares for nine to 10 children each day at her home near Sunset Terrace Elementary School, she said.
``I was a nurse in pediatrics, and I'm still working with children,'' she said. ``They're probably the most valued treasure we have today.''
For more information about the Week of the Family Child Care Provider and Family Child Care, call 282-7566.@et
