The Guardian Angel Day Care is expanding

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

The children who attend Guardian Angel Day Care Center were pouring sand for the construction of the expansion, which is expected to be complete by December 2010. The project will include a new playground and the remodeling of the existing building.

DRAPER— Families, staff members, the mayor of Draper, clergy, kids and friends gathered on May 12 for the official groundbreaking of the expansion of the Guardian Angel Day Care at the Skaggs Catholic Center.

A warm welcome to those present, followed by a prayer conducted by Deacon Dale Dillon of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper, opened the small ceremony

"We are here because this was a vision that needs to begin with infants working with God every day," said Molly Dumas, advancement director at Juan Diego Catholic High School, "and that’s why we want to expand this program. Draper is growing. We are keeping up with Draper, but we want to do more than just child care; we want to have God and prayers in our day care with our children, so that’s why we are expanding."

The day care will expand 9,000 square feet. The expansion will allow for two new rooms for 1-year-old children, two new rooms for 2- and 3-year-olds, and also two new infant rooms, as well as remodeling for the existing interior. A new playground also will be constructed.

"We are doing it with a lot of hands," said Dumas, adding, "we especially want to thank the person that it’s making all this possible; this has been put together with a special gift from Michael Kampros."

Kampros wasn’t present at the groundbreaking, but his daughter, Willow Rapella, unveiled the artist’s rendering of what the day care will look like.

Rapella, an associate teacher and Virtues /EDP teacher at Guardian Angel Day Care, donated the land for the project.

"She came in to my office one day and said that her father had left her a large estate and she wanted to help Guardian Angel to expand," said Maria Carrizo, director of Guardian Angel. "My jaw dropped."

At the time, the plans for the expansion were already drawn but the staff was anticipating having to take a loan out for the construction.

"I’m feeling very excited and proud because the demand of the infant/toddler (care) here in this side of the valley is so high right now," said Carrizo. "There are a lot of people searching for good-quality child care for infants and toddlers."

The construction is scheduled to be done by December 2010, and the facilities will be operating by the first of next year.