Red Eye

A look through the lens of the University photographer

Photo by Cary Edmondson

Children who participate in programs at Stone Soup Fresno gain early education in areas that prepare them to excel in school. Stone Soup is a community-benefit organization established in 1992 to support health, solace, education, culture and citizenship among Southeast Asian families.

Fresno State student Ia Thao (pictured), who is pursuing her master’s degree in deaf education, interned with Stone Soup last spring and now works full time for its PlayGroup program, a First 5 Fresno County-funded program designed for children ages 0-3 and their parents. The program serves more than 75 children.

Interns at Stone Soup are vital to its programs. Students work at various levels, from volunteering 10 to 20 hours as part of a class assignment to serving as interns for 75 to 150 hours per semester. As many as 300 Fresno State students and several dozen faculty and staff have volunteered or worked at Stone Soup in a single year. Thao’s favorite part of the program is “interacting with the children and providing parents with the educational tools to nurture their children in a multicultural environment.”