The Christian Love Center on Segar Street in Troy is now offering a free tutoring service to children after school from 4 to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

The tutoring program is an extension of the Get Fit Kids program that the Christian Love Center runs.

“Basically, we are offering free tutoring,” Lawanda Bell, director of the program, said. “We are a non-profit organization, and we have a lot of programs going on during the year. We do preschool, after-school programs, tutoring, and obesity walks.”

Bell said she felt compelled to start the program after she received calls from concerned parents about their children’s grades.

“We have a lot of parents calling about their kids’ grades,” Bell said. “ We saw a decrease in grades from kids in the middle school, particularly grades five and six. The parents are trying to figure out what is going wrong. They aren’t sure if it’s just because it’s the first report card of the year, or if there is a bigger problem.”

Bell said she hope to incorporate the tutoring program directly into the Get Fit Kids program.

“When the children get here, we’ll give them healthy snacks, and then we’ll start with the tutoring,” Bell said. “If they kids aren’t healthy, they can’t make good grades.”

The tutoring program was able to come about through a partnership with Troy University.

“We are working with the Department of Education and the Department of Kinesiology,” Bell said. “They will be sending students over to help teach the kids.”

Bell said the program has two main goals — to raise the children’s grades and to increase their physical activity.

“We’re pairing physical activities with academics,” Bell said. “Anything they don’t understand, we are going to help them understand.

“We’re trying to change lives and to make a difference in the lives of our youth.”

Children from first grade to high school are eligible for the service. For more information contact the Christian Love Center at (334) 566-5210.