Sponsoring a Christian Activity Center (CAC) child for Christmas ensures that kids in East St. Louis wake up full of joy on Christmas morning! To donate online and have CAC shop on your behalf, or to request a child's wish list and shop / drop off at CAC yourself, please visit cacesl.org/getinvolved.
About CAC
Teen violence swept the streets of East St. Louis when Rev. Chet Cantrell arrived at the Christian Activity Center in 1989. CAC's purpose at that time was to keep kids alive.
CAC's building was three large rooms and hosted programming for children ages 6-18 all together. There was no structure or funding for curriculum, and no funding to hire educators, counselors, chaplains, or coaches. CAC started with graffiti removal, walking into the heart of street violence and gang wars, and visiting mothers of murdered teens to counsel against retribution. The city was in a downward spiral in this post-industrial era. Congregations fled for safer ground just as East St. Louis's families’ need and despair was compounded by dwindling resources in the city. CAC’s immediate sphere of influence, the Samuel Gompers Homes (“The Gompers”), had become the acme of violence.
The desperate city asked Baptists to do something to help stem the tide of juvenile crime and violence in this neighborhood. After a series of attempts to reestablish ministry that included five directors in seven years and a near-closing in 1988, a nationwide search was conducted and the former Director, Rev. Chet Cantrell, was hired to begin work January 6, 1989.
CAC has grown in youth service from 13 teens (1989) to 450+ children & youth - ages 5-18. CAC's base of support has grown from 30 churches and families contributing $90,000/year (1989) to 1,154 donors contributing $1.3 million/year. The Christian Activity Center focuses its year-round programming around three core areas: faith, education, and recreation.