EASLEY — Seven United Ways serving 10 Upstate counties launched a new partnership with Upstate Subway Sandwich Shops recently to help maximize the early learning potential of young children and expand efforts to provide quality learning activities for parents and children.
The partnership with Subway is a significant addition to Born Learning Upstate SC, a public engagement campaign that aims to help parents, caregivers and communities provide young children with quality learning opportunities. The campaign is built around research that shows children are “born learning,” with the first three years of a child’s life proven to be an especially critical time.
“So much research shows that from the very first moments of a child’s life, the everyday interactions they have with adult caregivers set the stage for learning and promote social, emotional and intellectual development,” said Julie Capaldi, CEO of United Way of Pickens County.

There are currently Born Learning Upstate SC trails at parks in Easley, Liberty and Six Mile, with trails planned to come soon to Pickens and Clemson.

One of the components of the campaign has been the installation of Born Learning Trails across the Upstate. These trails include fun, engaging activities designed to boost language and literacy skills, and encourage children and their families to be active physically and mentally. Trail locations can be found on the Born Learning Website, BornLearningUpstateSC.org, or by calling 2-1-1, United Way’s statewide, 24-hour resource line. In Pickens County, trails are located at J.B. “Red” Owens Park in Easley, Freedom Park in Liberty and Ponderosa Park in Six Mile. Trails will be installed at Ashley Dearing Park in Clemson and Jaycee Park in Pickens this month.

“When we started this regional partnership in 2013, we launched with 15 trails across the region,” said Paige Stephenson, CEO of the United Way of the Piedmont. “I am excited to be able to announce today that we now have 40 trails throughout our communities in the Upstate of South Carolina. These trails are an important United Way strategy to foster quality parent-child interaction and help children along the path to school readiness.”
In celebrating the 40 Born Learning Trails, the United Ways of the Upstate are launching a unique partnership with local Subway Sandwich Shops. Participating Subway locations, including Central, Clemson and Liberty, will be offering Fresh Fit for Kids meal coupons to users of the trail. There will be a Subway sign with a QR code somewhere along each of the 40 trails. When trail users find the sign, they can simply scan the QR code, answer a very brief survey and receive a Subway coupon. This effort not only helps promote early learning and trail usage, it will also help local United Ways track the number of trail users.
“Our local owners are part of the community and see the United Way Born Learning Trails as a meaningful way to support healthy lifestyles and early learning,” said Tom Harvey, a parent of grade-school children and local owner of six Subway Sandwich Shops in the Greenville area.
The recent announcement came as a precursor to the 2016 Week of the Young Child (April 10-16), where child-friendly, educational activities are being held by United Ways and partner organizations throughout the Upstate throughout the week. A list of events can be found on the Born Learning Upstate website, BornLearningUpstateSC.org.
BornLearningUpstate.org also offers an extensive collection of resources for parents, easy games to play at home or around town, as well as a list of United Way-supported early education programs in each of the 10 Upstate counties. Parents and caregivers can go to the Website or call 2-1-1 for local contacts to receive materials, resources and program information.
“We all share a commitment to helping children grow up healthy, ready for school, and prepared for a lifetime of success,” said Carol Burdette, president of United Way of Anderson County. “Today’s commitment of support by Subway is an important example of how businesses can bring unique ideas to the table relating to the promotion of school readiness.”