June 25, 2020 Join Providers Across PA to Tell Your Story On Tuesday, June 30, child care providers across Pennsylvania are participating in a day-long, story sharing event on social media to increase attention on child care and its importance as a community resource and economic driver. About Governor Tom Wolf and the General Assembly authorized the spending of stimulus funds to support early learning programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even once all those funds are distributed, they are not enough. With diminished enrollment, scarcity of staff, unpaid bills, and no clear picture of what tomorrow will bring, many child care providers still do not know if their business will survive. We need the federal government to allocate more funding to support child care programs so they can weather this crisis. To gain these urgently needed funds, stories from child care providers, early educators, and families are essential. Stories can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 30. We want to be sure that as many people as possible–especially our elected officials–understand that the child care crisis is not over and without child care there is no recovery! Alert your network of friends, families, and staff to look out for your story and like, share, and/or retweet it. How to Share Prepare your story ahead of time so that you can easily post or tweet during the event. You can use your answers to the questions on this Google form to help create your draft. Pictures are encouraged to help others see the real people affected by this crisis! Sharing on Twitter: Break your story down into a thread of 280 characters. Click the blue “Tweet” button in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Type out the first tweet of your thread. Press the + button in the lower right hand corner of your Tweet composition window, and a new space will appear for you to add a second tweet. In the final tweet of the thread, include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) and Senator Bob Casey (@SenCasey). Sharing on Facebook: From the top of your News Feed, click What’s on your mind, [Name]? Add a text update or click the type of post you would like to share (example: Photo/Video, Feeling/Activity). Posts can be up to 63,206 characters so you have plenty of room, however, longer posts get cut off in a user’s feed, forcing them to expand the text if they want to read the full story. At the end of your post include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @SenatorBobCasey and @SenatorToomey Sharing on Instagram: Tap + at the bottom of the screen. Take a photo or video or choose one from your phone’s library. Tap Next. You can also add effects or filters. Tap Next again, and then tap Write a caption Enter your caption and tap OK > Share (iPhone) or Share (Android). In your caption include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @senbobcasey and @senpattoomey More Information Questions? Please contact Cristina Codario at cristina@tryingtogether.org.
