Think Aloud raises money for turkey dinners

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

The Think Aloud Corp served up delicious food while working towards contributing to a great cause.
Think Aloud hosted a Cookout Fundraiser Saturday outside the Copperas Cove Library’s meeting room on Saturday. They served wing plates—barbecued and plain—for $10 and catfish plates for $12. Each plate also included a drink and the choice of two sides which included French fries, corn on the cob, potato salad, and coleslaw. They could also purchase a dessert for an extra $2.50. Desserts included red velvet cake, lemon pound cake, Italian crème cake, and blondies. 
Money raised at the fundraiser will go towards purchasing Thanksgiving meals to support members of the local community. Those meals will be distributed at the library Nov 18.
“It’s going so well,” said Think Aloud owner, Vonetta Domino. “We’re blown away. We’ve got a great community.”
Domino described Think Aloud Corp as a “no-screen zone” with a two-part program for ages 4-12 with the goal of helping children with socialization.
They meet for two-hour sessions at the library meeting room every other Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon. Domino said that they engage with the children in a 30-minute mindfulness session where they invite the children to talk about whatever they want to talk about. They then have a variety of activities including crafts, dancing, and music to encourage the children to interact with each other.
“We’re here to encourage them to positively express themselves,” said Domino.
After checking out the cookout fundraiser, Alice Roth is considering bringing her daughter, Avery Roth (8), to the next Think Aloud session.
“I like it,” said Roth. “Getting her engaged with people is always a challenge.”
Monica Rodriguez has enrolled four of her children in Think Aloud.
“They are very open to each child individually,” said Rodriguez. “Some are shy, some are very loud like my 9-year-old…They are very understanding of each other.”
Rodriguez said that it’s important that her children can make friends outside of a school environment as well. She said that she’s especially impressed by how supportive all the children are of each other saying that her 9-year-old is occasionally picked on in other settings but Think Aloud is a very supportive environment where her daughter is free to be herself.