Our History
"What would it take for an entire city to come together around improving the lives of children?"
This question posed, by the leadership of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, led to three years of planning with child advocates, business leaders, policy makers and citizens of Springfield to launch the Cherish Every Child Initiative (CHECH).
A core planning group of almost 50 people, in a series of work meeting throughout 2001 and 2002, met to discuss their hopes for Springfield's children, identify existing resources, and pinpoint obstacles that had to be overcome to improve the lives of Springfield's children. The result was the "Cherish Every Child Action Plan for Springfield's Youngest Children" released in November 2002.
The Imagine booklet, published subsequently, described the work that the CHECH initiative embarked upon, based on the Action Plan.
To date, literally hundreds of individuals and dozens of organizations have been engaged in the work of Cherish Every Child. A great deal has been accomplished.
