A word from our Children's Minister:
H1N1 and Seasonal Flu

There are recent concerns in our community about the seasonal flu and H1N1. Our hearts and prayers go out to those who have been diagnosed. I realize there is great concern anytime you leave your children in a group setting, so you may be asking yourself "What are they doing at Green Acres to make sure things are clean?" Here’s what we do:

• Each time a toy is mouthed by an infant or toddler we wash it.
• Hand Washing with soap and water is encouraged.
• The flat surfaces and chairs are disinfected after each session. We are always concerned about the cleanliness of our facility and health of your children. To be sure we are on top of things, we recently talked with local infectious disease physicians. Here's their advice.

Hand Washing
 
Hand washing is a must and while soap and water is the best way to go, hand sanitizer in the room makes it much more convenient for workers to wash their hands often. In the next couple of weeks, you will see some type of alcohol based hand wash in each room, just to make it convenient for each of our workers.

While tables, chairs and surfaces are cleaned daily doctor’s say make sure there is a disinfectant such as Clorox in the solution. Disinfecting wipes will be placed in rooms to provide cleaning as needed during the times children are in the room. We have made sure maintenance and housekeeping staff have cleaning products that contain the necessary solutions.

Toys that are mouthed by infants and toddlers are washed every day child care is provided. Just to make sure we asked, "What is the best way to clean toys?" The physicians say, "hot, soapy water and then air dried". To reemphasize this with our staff, you'll be seeing a bucket in each classroom marked "dirty toys". After each session these toys will be washed and returned to cabinets.

We are doing all we can to keep your children safe, but physicians agree, the best way to stop the spread of germs is for parents to adhere strictly to the following:

Keep your children home when they are sick
 
Please do not bring them to class until they have been fever free for at least 24 hours.

In turn, if children are sick while in our care we will be calling and asking you to come get them.

We want to do all we can to make sure we share the love of Jesus in a clean, healthy environment.