Kids, pols urge city to save Beacon after-school program
A popular after-school program that serves hundreds of kids from Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights is on the chopping block due to city budget cuts. But supporters of the Beacon program at McKinley Intermediate School said they’re not going down without a fight.
Supporters mounted a rally outside the school at 7301 Fort Hamilton Parkway on May 10 to protest the impending closure of the 18-year-old program. The Beacon site at McKinley is sponsored by HeartShare Human Services of New York, which provides a share of the funding. But without city funding, the site will close. The program offers free homework help, sports, drams classes, and other after-school activities.
Children who take part in the program’s activities held up homemade signs reading “Homework Not Home Alone,” and chanted “If you care, save HeartShare!”