The director of the new Mount Pleasant Childcare Center is wrapping up her first week on the job.

Wayland resident and Sigourney native Amy McLaughlin says Mount Pleasant Community Childcare, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has  begun the process of renovating the former Family Video building in Mount Pleasant with a target date to open the center by June 1st. She says it will fill a big need in the community, “I think it was 2011 that The Owl’s Nest childcare center in Mount Pleasant closed and there has not been an actual licensed center since then. There are a couple of preschools and several in-home daycares, but there’s not been a licensed center for several years and it is a huge, huge need in the community.”

McLaughlin says they’re looking to raise $300,000 to help get the childcare center started and they recently received a $5,000 donation from St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. She says the center will be able to serve 40 to 60 children initially with hopes of expanding operations in the future. The center will begin registration in March, and to reach McLaughlin, 319-385-3101 or email kids@mpiowa.org.