Emily Bertram’s 9-year-old daughter has attended Lights On! Lander since kindergarten. The free program offers supervised academic and enrichment programs between the last school bell and 5:30 p.m., when many guardians get off work.

Bertram’s older son also attended Lights On!, and she can’t really fathom how her family would have managed without it, she said. It’s reliable, safe and even offers care during the summer months and holidays when there is no school.

“It’s been invaluable,” she said.

So when she heard in July that federal funding for Lights On! had been frozen, she said, she felt dread.

“It would be such a loss to our community,” Bertram said. “There are a lot of people who rely on it.”

The families of 225 children, to be precise. And that’s just in Lander. Programs funded

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